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LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

FRANZISGA,    BARONESS    VON    HEDEMANN 


FRANZISKA,    BARONESS    VON    HEDEMANN 

Founder  of  the  celebrated  House  of  "Frederic,"  the  most  distinguished  and 
exclusive  establishment  of  its  kind,  patronized  by  the  elite  of  Europe,  and 
crowned   heads  of  almost  every  court. 


LOVE  STORIES  OF 
COURT  BEAUTIES 

BY 

FRANZISCA,  BARONESS  VON  HEDEMANN 

ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  H,  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1917, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


PREFACE 

To  my  knowledge,  I  am  the  first  modiste  to  at- 
tempt an  autobiographical  record  of  her  pursuit  of 
the  art  of  dressmaking.  It  will  be  very  simple,  be- 
cause I  possess  neither  the  art  of  literary  values, 
nor  the  imaginative  gift  of  the  novelist  to  dramatise 
the  famous  men  and  women  it  has  been  my  privilege 
to  know. 

My  real  excuse  for  writing  about  these  crowned 
heads,  who  to-day  are  bowed  low  with  the  grief  that 
has  come  upon  them,  is  because  I  too  am  an  exile 
from  the  gaiety  that  once  was  theirs,  and  which  has 
changed  so  dreadfully  to  mourning  and  distress.  I 
was  obliged  to  leave  England  where  my  heart  still 
is,  and  where  my  dearest  friends  and  relatives  re- 
side, because  my  late  husband  was  of  the  German 
House  of  Hanover.  The  details  of  my  departure 
like  those  of  many  other  loyal  friends  in  England, 
who  in  the  terrific  perplexities  of  the  war  prob- 
lem were  compelled  to  forfeit  their  business,  their 
homes,  and  their  money,  in  obedience  to  new  laws 
of  a  new  situation,  are  too  well  known  for  repetition 

here. 

v, 


PREFACE 

I  was  given  ten  days  in  which  to  leave  England, 
and  the  period  was  extended  through  special  influ- 
ence, to  three  weeks.  The  pressure  of  conditions  all 
over  England,  against  the  slightest  German  ele- 
ment, is  incomprehensibly  strict.  Although  I  ap- 
plied to  Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary  of  England, 
whom  I  had  known  since  she  was  a  child,  a  most 
gracious  letter  from  her  in  reply  to  mine  made  it 
clear  that  Her  Majesty  was  powerless  to  intercede. 

So,  as  quickly  as  it  was  possible  for  me  to  close 
the  House  of  Frederic,  to  sell  whatever  I  could  in 
a  short  time  (since  my  bank  account,  my  jewels, 
my  papers,  were  all  seized  by  the  government  to  be 
held  until  the  end  of  the  war ) ,  I  set  sail  to  this  land 
of  liberty,  where  I  hoped  to  find  a  new  occupation 
for  my  professional  ability. 

Briefly,  this  is  the  adventure  which  has  forced 
upon  me  the  leisure  to  put  together  these  reminis- 
cences of  the  wonderful  women  of  Paris  and  Lon- 
don, who  have  inspired  me. 

The  House  of  "Frederic"  was  established  in  Lon- 
don at  14-15  Lower  Grosvenor  Place,  in  1893.  It 
became  to  the  world  of  fashion  in  England  what 
Worth  was  in  Paris.  In  fact,  it  was  Worth  who 
advised  me  to  adopt  the  name  of  Frederic.  How  it 
became  famous,  and  the  beautiful  women  who  cre- 
—  vi  — 


PREFACE 

ated  fame  for  it,  is  the  reason  that  these  remem- 
brances of  those  wonderful  leaders  of  an  aristocracy 
now  drenched  with  the  horrors  of  the  great  Euro- 
pean disaster  called  War  are  here  written. 

Of  course  it  has  been  my  privilege,  and  as  a 
modiste  my  good  luck,  to  have  gowned  nearly  all 
the  Queens  of  Europe  and  their  followers.  In  Lon- 
don, in  this  way,  I  came  to  know  the  elite  of  Eng- 
lish aristocracy.  In  their  train,  naturally,  followed 
the  beauties  of  the  peerage,  the  most  celebrated 
prima  donnas,  the  most  brilliant  actresses.  At  ran- 
dom, I  remember  such  international  beauties  as  the 
Countess  of  Warwick,  Duchess  of  Montagenu  de 
Montagenu,  the  historical  and  imperious  Duchess 
of  Manchester,  who  was  later  the  Duchess  of 
Devonshire;  the  Duchess  of  Buckingham  and 
Chandos,  the  Duchess  Katherine  of  Westminster, 
the  Duchess  of  Portland,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
and  a  host  of  others.  All  the  grand  personages  of 
the  past  twenty-five  years  flocked  in  and  out  of  my 
salon  to  consult  me  about  dress, — and  other  things 
that  this  fascinating  subject  inspires.  They  have  all 
remained  my  good  friends,  and  they  were  all  per- 
sona grata  at  the  house  of  the  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Wales,  subsequently  King  Edward  and  Queen 

Alexandra. 

—  vu  — 


PREFACE 

Fate,  I  am  sure,  appears  usually  in  the  guise  of 
some  luxurious  temptation,  which  we  must  pursue 
irresistibly  or  miss  the  chances  of  fortune.  If  one 
could  only  know  the  sudden  turn  in  the  romantic 
roads  of  destiny  which  some  of  these  aristocratic 
beauties  I  have  known  made! 

Many  of  us  misinterpret  the  good  intentions  of 
our  destiny  because  we  fear  the  consequences  of 
the  unforeseen.  In  my  own  case,  I  took  full  advan- 
tage of  my  destiny.  Perhaps  I  was  temperament- 
ally adapted  to  it.  A  taste  for  extravagance,  a  pas- 
sion for  beauty  and  elaborate  toilettes^  an  apprecia- 
tive talent  for  what  makes  the  coquetry  of  a  wom- 
an's nature  the  supreme  art  of  her  being,  these  were 
the  intense  fires  of  my  youth. 

It  was  the  Paris  of  the  second  empire  that  really 
sealed  my  career  as  a  modiste.  The  luxury,  the 
gaiety,  the  love  of  pleasure  so  fully  satiated  by  the 
grandeur  of  that  period  of  the  second  empire  in 
France,  gave  me  the  foretaste  of  my  future  calling. 
It  fastened  upon  my  soul  those  wonderful  schemes 
of  colour  and  artistic  combinations  of  exquisite  fab- 
rics, that  in  after  years  I  used  with  such  success. 

My  memory  is  excellent,  and  I  absorbed  into  my 
being  the  beautiful  and  vital  impressions  it  re- 
ceived. 

—  vm  — 


PREFACE 

The  real  origin  of  my  desire  to  become  a  modiste 
took  hold  of  me  when  I  was  a  very  young  girl  at  a 
grand  reception  I  attended  in  the  palace  of  the 
Tuileries.  The  occasion  was  a  riot  of  beauty  and 
splendour.  I  can  still  see  before  me  such  marvels  of 
beauty  as  the  Princess  de  Sagan,  the  Princess  Met- 
ternich,  Madame  Gallifet,  and  a  host  of  others,  in 
their  wonderful  creations  of  the  celebrated  Worth ; 
in  their  midst  Her  Imperial  Highness  Eugenie. 
This  whole  event  is  beautifully  interpreted  in  a  glo- 
rious picture  by  Winterhalter.  The  styles  of  that 
period  are  returning,  and  Winterhalter's  picture 
might  almost  be  a  representation  of  the  product  of 
to-day. 

Well,  it  was  this  vision,  this  hour  of  thrilling  ad- 
venture, that  fastened  my  desire  to  become  some 
day  famous  in  the  art  of  gowning  women  myself. 
I  never  imagined  that  this  fanciful  dream  should, 
or  could,  ever  be  realised. 

It  happened,  however,  with  the  temptation  of  the 
unforeseen. 

In  the  summer  of  the  middle  sixties,  I  went  with 
my  aunt  to  Homburg  est  Mont,  at  that  time  the  re- 
sort of  all  the  grande  monde  and  demi-monde  celeb- 
rities. There  one  would  meet  at  the  gaming  tables, 
elbowing  each  other,  a  grand  duchess,  a  Cora  Pearl, 

—  ix  — 


PREFACE 

a  Baruchi,  a  Soubise,  all  adorned  in  the  most  gor- 
geous, brilliant,  distinguished  toilettes,  all  tempt- 
ing fortune  unmercifully,  while  the  mysteries  of 
rouge  et  noir  called  for  an  almost  unholy  silence. 
Monsieur  Blanc,  the  founder  of  these  marvellous 
gambling  rooms  in  Homburg  and  Wiesbaden,  drew 
about  him  and  his  exquisite  surroundings  the  most 
cosmopolitan  society  imaginable.  There  are  many, 
of  course,  who  remember,  as  I  do,  the  picturesque 
figure  of  the  Princess  Souvaroff,  the  beautiful  Rus- 
sian, who  was  the  sister  of  the  Countess  de  Galve. 
The  Princess  was  always  superbly  gowned.  She 
entered  the  gambling  rooms  followed  by  a  great 
many  cavaliers,  in  fact  she  was  so  surrounded  by 
them  that  when  her  party  approached  the  gambling 
tables  it  was  almost  impossible  for  anybody  else 
to  reach  them.  The  Princess  Souvaroff  was  the 
living  spirit  of  these  salons.  Her  almost  devoted 
companion  was  usually  the  celebrated  Paul  Demi- 
doff  (Prince  Murat),  usually  playing  with  Garcia, 
the  famous  Spaniard  who  broke  the  bank  several 
times.  The  picture  of  this  beautiful  woman,  sur- 
rounded by  the  most  reckless  and  daring  men  of 
the  period,  was  savage,  barbaric,  stirring  to  a  de- 
gree. Being  quite  young,  impressionable,  with  an 
—  x  — 


PREFACE 

inclination  to  enjoy  the  superficial  grandeur  of  the 
time,  I  naturally  fell  under  the  influence  of  it. 

In  this  brilliant,  suffocating,  perfume-laden 
atmosphere  of  extravagance,  so  intensely  interest- 
ing, so  tragicomic  and  vital  in  its  recklessness  of 
human  romance, — I  too  met  my  fate.  I  was  young 
and  I  was  loyally  chaperoned.  He  was  then  a  gay 
lieutenant.  I  asked  my  aunt  to  allow  me  to  be  in- 
troduced to  him.  We  danced  all  the  evening. 
Next  morning,  a  most  glorious  dawn,  we  met  and 
galloped  through  that  sublime  pine  forest,  which  at 
that  time  was  a  romantic  setting  famous  in  the  ro- 
mantic history  of  European  royalty.  My  hasty  de- 
parture from  this  Eden  of  nature,  which  my  aunt 
thought  wise  and  judicious,  did  not  banish  from  my 
mind  and  my  too  imaginative  person,  the  impres- 
sion of  that  ride  through  the  forest. 

I  returned  to  Paris  heart-broken.  I  did  not  wish 
to  go  out — theatres,  balls,  concerts,  failed  to  excite 
my  interest.  I  pined,  I  fell  ill,  and  nobody  could 
or  would  give  it  a  name.  The  Duke  de  Bassano, 
the  life-long  friend  of  the  beautiful  Empress  Eu- 
genie, met  me  on  horseback  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
in  Paris  one  morning. 

"How  are  you,  cherie  petite?"  he  asked. 

I  could  hardly  reply. 

—  xi  — 


PREFACE 


c< 


'Ah,  ah,  Trial  dy amour,"  he  said. 

Yes,  it  was  so. 

Still  my  relative  was  inexorable.  She  would  not, 
she  could  not  hear  of  such  a  thing.  Different  creeds, 
different  social  standing,  different  politics,  every- 
thing about  it  to  her  seemed  impracticable  and  un- 
desirable. However,  this  did  not  daunt  me.  I  ran 
away  to  meet  the  man  I  loved  more  than  anything 
else.  He  met  me  at  a  little  village  on  the  Khine — 
that  glorious  and  beautiful  river  where  so  many 
lovers  have  found  their  answer.  We  returned  to 
Paris  and  were  married  in  a  little  chapel  the  distinc- 
tion of  which  was  one  of  the  brutalities  of  the  Com- 
mune. 

This  incident,  the  great  personal  event  of  my 
life,  typifies  the  spirit  of  the  times  which  launched 
me  upon  a  career  that  never  lost  its  romantic  fla- 
vour, that  kept  me  forever  eagerly  in  pursuit  of  the 
greatest  of  all  temptations  to  women,  to  inspire  the 
admiration  and  homage  of  the  eternal  heroes  of  the 
eternal  fairy  tale  of  every  woman's  heart. 

For  six  years  my  husband  and  I  travelled  in  the 
United  States  just  after  the  Civil  War.  During 
our  absence,  his  property  had  been  confiscated  dur- 
ing the  Franco-Prussian  war,  and  we  had  to  begin 
work  in  earnest.  That  is  why  we  settled  in  Eng- 
—  xii  — 


PREFACE 

land,  where  he  became  a  teacher  of  classics.  I  went 
to  Paris  to  study  the  art  of  dressmaking,  designing 
and  creating  gowns. 

I  went  to  Worth,  the  most  celebrated  and  the 
greatest  of  couturiers.  He  was  the  leading  man  of 
his  time.  The  aristocracy  of  the  united  world  came 
to  him,  and  it  was  he  who  instilled  into  me  the  great 
desire  to  become  a  shining  light  in  the  world  of  well 
dressed  women,  as  he  himself  was.  Hence  the  suc- 
cess of  my  business  career.  Although  the  supreme 
inspiration  for  my  work  came  from  Worth,  I  can 
still  say  with  absolute  honesty  that  the  gowns  I  de- 
signed were  my  very  own,  that  they  were  no  spu- 
rious imitations  or  copies  of  any  other  gowns  made 
anywhere  in  the  world.  Dressmaking  became  a 
passion  as  uplifting  and  important  as  any  great 
work  of  art  becomes  to  the  artist.  I  found  it  an  un- 
mitigated pleasure,  a  perpetual  source  of  diversion, 
an  absolute  treat,  and  I  never  felt  happier  than 
when  I  could  demonstrate  my  talent  upon  the  liv- 
ing model  of  some  aristocratic  beauty,  to  enhance 
through  my  art,  all  her  exquisite  charm.  When  I 
look  back  upon  those  years  in  the  retrospect  of  the 
great  wealth  and  beauty  of  those  celebrities  in  art 
and  fashion,  who  alas  were  too  numerous  for  com- 
plete recollection,  I  seem  to  see  them  "as  in  a  look- 

•  •  • 

—  xin  — 


PREFACE 

ing-glass."  The  quick-silver  is  a  little  dim,  there- 
fore the  reflection  my  glass  gives  must  be  sharp- 
ened by  a  skill  that  returns  with  effort. 

I  learned  some  classic  rules,  however,  that  we  al- 
ways apply  to  the  woman  of  fashion  and  good  taste 
in  dress.  To  be  really  well-dressed  a  woman  must 
not  shock  society  either  by  her  daring  in  design  or 
her  daring  in  colour.  The  proper  blending  of  col- 
our is  an  enormous  feature  in  dress.  Primarily,  the 
plastique  of  the  figure  must  be  accentuated  by 
classic  draperies.  By  this  fundamental  process  of 
discovery,  an  ugly  woman  can  be  made  to  look  beau- 
tiful. It  is  in  the  combination  of  colour  that  the 
real  secret  of  the  art  of  dressmaking  lies.  If  culti- 
vated by  the  modiste  with  an  artistic  appreciation 
of  this  fact,  the  designing  of  each  gown  becomes 
quite  as  interesting  as  the  painter's  interpretation 
of  colour  within  the  scope  of  beauty  on  his  canvas. 

Of  course,  one  can  fail  in  this  too.  It  is  quite 
possible  to  select  with  judgment  certain  expensive 
materials  and  to  fashion  them  into  garments  that 
are  beautiful  in  design,  and  yet  fall  far  short  of 
one's  creative  ambition.  In  my  judgment,  it  is 
not  satisfying  to  be  famous  and  successful  merely 
as  a  creator  of  clothes  that  are  pleasing  to  the  eye. 
Gowns  should  be  a  real  work  of  art.  Without  the 
—  xiv  — 


THE    FITTING    ROOM    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    FREDERIC 

In  this  very  attractive  room  the  author  came  to  know  most  intimately  members 
of  the  royal   household  of  almost  every  court  of   Europe. 


PREFACE 

artist's  appreciation  of  colour  of  course  this  is 
impossible. 

The  most  important  rule  which  I  discovered  in 
the  course  of  my  experience,  is  the  gift  to  make 
the  woman  you  are  gowning  realise  that  you  un- 
derstand her  needs.  She  must  feel  when  she  enters 
your  establishment  that  the  frame,  the  atmosphere, 
the  mood  of  your  establishment  pleases  her.  I 
gave  the  greatest  possible  care  and  attention  to 
every  little  detail  of  my  reception  room,  so  that 
every  woman  who  crossed  my  threshold  found  the 
surroundings  soothing  to  her.  There  is  no  event 
so  important  in  a  woman's  life  as  the  all-important 
business  of  ordering  a  new  gown.  It  is  a  time  of 
great  anxiety  to  her.  It  is  the  crisis  that  decides 
whether  her  clothes  are  going  to  make  her  happy. 
What  woman  was  ever  happy  in  clothes  she  didn't 
like?  Therefore,  it  makes  all  the  difference  in  the 
world  whether,  when  she  visits  her  modiste,  she 
feels  "in  tune"  with  the  gowns  which  are  displayed, 
as  it  were,  on  the  knees  of  the  gods. 

Who  knows  what  may  depend  upon  a  new  gown? 

According  to  her  mood,  her  outward  bearing,  the 
modiste  will  be  impressed  with  the  entire  character 
of  her  requirements.  Therefore,  every  modiste 
who  is  the  creator  of  the  outward  and  visible  sign 

—  xv  — 


PREFACE 

of  her  model's  attractiveness  must  gain  her  con- 
fidence.   The  two  must  be  en  rapport. 

Much  depends  on  first  impressions.    The  beauty 
who  comes  to  the  modiste  to  be  made,  if  possible, 
more  beautiful,  must  come  to  a  home  of  taste,  a 
place  where  it  is  impossible  that  anything  unbeau- 
tiful  could  find  even  a  temporary  abode.     There 
must  be  a  sense  of  all-pervading  restfulness,  and 
something  of  joyous  expectancy  in  the  atmosphere. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  home  of  the  mo- 
diste to  the  ambitious  woman  of  fashion  is  the  place 
of  unrevealed  beauty,  which  she  seeks.     This  is  a 
state  of  mind  which  cannot  be  produced  by  the 
upholsterer  or  the  decorator,  nor  by  any  display, 
however  alluring,  of  beautiful  externals  alone.    It 
is  a  condition  which  is  brought  about  by  the  person- 
ality of  the  modiste  herself.     There  is  only  one 
type  of  woman  born  with  the  instinct  of  fashion  who 
requires  no  advice,  and  that  is  the  French  woman. 
She  is  filled  and  always  will  be  with  the  perfection 
of  taste  and  smartness.    A  ribbon,  a  bow,  a  flower, 
she  will  adjust  these  instinctively  to  improve  her 
beauty.     Then  too,  the  French  woman  is  a  born 
epigram  of  fashion.    She  knows  how  to  walk  well, 
how  to  talk  well,  and  she  will  make  men  notice 
the  gown  she  wears  so  piquantly.    Her  lingerie  is 
—  xvi  — 


PREFACE 

dainty  to  a  fault,  her  boots  and  shoes  are  little  chef 
d'wuvres. 

In  London,  where  the  English  beauty  thrives,  I 
created  an  environment  that  inspired  their  most 
radiant  and  distinctive  moods.  I  spent  a  great  deal 
of  money  in  creating  a  mise  en  scene.  My  own 
room  was  off  the  reception  room  on  the  first  floor. 
I  generally  could  be  found  there. 

Upon  entering  this  reception  room  one  may  have 
seen  a  few  odds  and  ends,  a  length  of  lace,  a  dainty 
piece  of  lingerie,  a  robe  de  nuit,  that  held  one's  at- 
tention. Possibly,  there  was  only  a  hat  that  com- 
pelled immediate  notice.  Those  who  came  to  my 
salon  expecting  a  display,  a  gallery  of  robes,  were 
disappointed.  My  method  was  not  to  dazzle,  and 
yet  my  gowns  stood  out  phenomenal  for  their  good 
taste,  their  exquisite  materials,  and  their  elegance. 

One  of  my  salons  was  furnished  in  old  rose  panel- 
ling, with  a  white  and  gold  frieze  and  was  hung 
with  beautiful  brocade  pastoral,  over  real  lace  cur- 
tains. The  furniture,  which  matched  the  period, 
stood  on  a  carpet  of  grey  pearl.  An  archway,  de- 
signed after  the  style  of  Louis  XV,  divided  this 
salon  from  another,  the  ceiling  of  which  was  em- 
bossed with  twenty-two  karat  gold.  In  this  room 
the  panels  were  of  the  shade  of  Rose  du  Barry, 

—  xvii  — 


PREFACE 

with  a  border  of  white  and  gold,  toned  down  by 
frames  of  grey  pearl.  On  the  walls  hung  medallion 
portraits  of  such  bygone  beauties  as  the  Duchess 
of  Gainesborough,  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  Marie 
Antoinette,  Marquise  de  Chevreuille,  the  Duchess 
de  Lamballe.  A  huge  royal  blue  vase,  the  statue  of 
an  Egyptian  water-carrier,  Dresden  china  shep- 
herds and  shepherdesses,  poised  on  golden  velvet 
consoles,  made  this  salon  more  than  attractive. 

Even  my  fitting-rooms  were  panelled  entirely  in 
dark  oak,  with  quaint  lamps,  and  huge  Etruscan 
vases.  An  old  Tyrolean  chest  of  the  date  of  1605, 
filled  with  precious  laces,  gave  an  old-world  tone  to 
the  entire  room,  with  its  ancient  spinning-wheel  in 
one  corner.  One  room  I  called  my  royal  chamber 
because  on  its  grey-blue  walls  hung  the  royal  ap- 
pointments given  me  by  Her  Majesty  Queen  Alex- 
andra, Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary,  Her  Majesty 
Queen  of  Roumania,  the  late  Duchess  of  Teck,  be- 
sides a  host  of  other  photographs  of  royal  beauties. 

My  salon  was  next  to  the  Spanish  Embassy  in 
London,  the  throng  of  footmen  and  carriages  out- 
side my  door  often  making  passersby  think  that  I 
was  holding  a  reception.  When  His  Majesty  King 
Alphonso  was  in  town,  he  usually  lunched  at  the 
Embassy,  and  on  those  occasions  I  always  decorated 
—  xviii  — 


THE    RECEPTION    ROOM     IN     THE    HOUSE    OF    FREDERIC 

One  of  the  quaint  rooms  which  constituted  a  temple  at  whose  shrine  the  most 
beautiful  and  the  most  distinguished  ladies  of  two  hemispheres  worshipped  with 
intense  zeal  and   great   ardor. 


PREFACE 

my  house  with  the  royal  colours  of  Spain  in  his 
honour.  I  was  so  close  to  Buckingham  Palace,  my 
windows  overlooked  the  royal  garden,  and  when  in 
happier  times  the  ceremony  of  "trooping  the  col- 
ours" was  customary,  my  flag  would  be  seen  flut- 
tering in  the  wind  from  Hyde  Park  Corner,  be- 
cause as  I  had  been  honoured  with  so  many  royal 
appointments,  I  was  privileged  to  fly  the  colours 
upon  all  great  occasions. 

My  task  as  court  dressmaker  was  to  accomplish 
for  these  great  beauties  of  the  Court  of  St.  James 
exactly  what  a  flattering  painter  would  do  on  his 
canvas  in  their  portraits.  I  adorned  their  natural 
graces,  I  made  them  walk,  and  their  gowns  talk 
for  them. 

My  first  success  was  in  creating  certain  imperti- 
nent creations  of  cotton  with  velvet,  or  silk  with  cre- 
torme,  or  cloth  with  silk,  and  my  riding  habits  were 
also  distinctive.  At  this  time  the  ladies  did  not  ride 
astride,  as  they  do  now.  The  riding  habits  of  that 
day  were  made  with  little  stiff  collars  for  men's 
ties,  and  even  the  hats  were  like  the  men's  silk  hats. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  rebellion  among  men 
against  this  fashion  who,  when  they  saw  the  ladies 
coming  along  Rotten  Row,  dressed  like  men,  said 
cynically,  "Where  do  we  come  in?" 

—  xix — 


PREFACE 

Nothing  seemed  to  please  the  English  woman 
more  than  to  be  entirely  in  sympathy  with  the  man 
in  the  Street,  and  so  at  this  time,  she  adopted  the 
sportsmanlike  appearance  in  dress  and  in  hats,  of 
the  men,  so  as  to  become  more  comradely.  The 
English  woman  has  divided  with  the  English  man 
his  love  of  golf,  cricket,  lawn  tennis,  of  swimming, 
skating  and  hunting. 

But,  I  am  afraid  I  am  trespassing,  and  must  pro- 
ceed with  the  stories  of  really  important  men  and 
women.  Still,  it  was  indeed  a  sad  experience,  when, 
on  that  winter  morning  in  London,  I  awoke  and 
found  that  my  exemption  would  not  be  granted, 
and  I  started  for  New  York.  I  arrived  close  to  the 
Statue  of  Liberty  on  a  very  gloomy  morning,  and 
I  wondered  what  fate  would  have  in  store  for  me. 


xx 


INTRODUCTION 

In  Europe,  at  least  in  my  time,  all  nations  were 
ruled  by  monarchs,  and  those  who  attained  the  priv- 
ilege of  meeting  royalty,  were  favoured  beyond  the 
rest  of  mankind.  It  was  in  my  capacity  as  court 
dressmaker,  that  I  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  a  rather 
enviable  acquaintance  with  royalty.  My  own  views 
of  them  are  guided  by  a  most  agreeable  personal 
knowledge.  Those  royalties  whom  I  have  had  the 
honour  to  know,  have  been  supremely  graceful, 
well  bred,  and  considerate  of  others.  The  splen- 
dour with  which  royalty  surrounds  itself,  is,  after 
all,  merely  a  necessary  defence  against  the  human 
tide  that  would  otherwise  overwhelm  them  with  its 
onrush  of  curiosity. 

It  is  the  world's  way  towards  royalty,  to  be  curi- 
ous. In  the  present  upheaval  against  monarchies 
and  monarchs  the  reason  for  this  curiosity  will 
doubtless  become  more  understandable,  particu- 
larly as  the  traditions  of  their  inner  lives  become  ex- 
posed to  the  people. 

The  beginning  of  this  record,  which  is  over- 

—  xxi  — 


INTRODUCTION 

shadowed  by  the  dethronement  of  the  Czar  of  Rus- 
sia, becomes  intricate  from  the  realisation  that  all 
the  royal  families  of  Europe  are  closely  related. 
The  revolution  in  Russia,  which  at  this  moment  of 
writing  is  absorbing  the  world's  interest,  seems  to 
cast  its  ghostly  warning  over  England. 

The  relation  of  England's  throne  with  German 
blood,  with  Russian  royalty,  makes  an  issue  of  po- 
litical importance  that  cannot  be  ignored.  The  per- 
sonality, the  character,  the  human  traditions  of  the 
royal  actors  and  actresses  in  the  new  drama  which 
the  world  is  presenting  to  us  to-day,  become  espe- 
cially significant,  and,  therefore,  I  must  recall  the 
relationship  of  these  great  identities  in  this  new 
historical  drama. 

It  has  frequently  been  said  that  if  King  Edward 
VII  had  been  alive  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  his 
remarkable  diplomacy,  the  force  of  his  personality 
would  have  prevented  it.  King  Edward  inherited 
a  great  deal  of  the  wisdom  and  charm  of  his  dis- 
tinguished mother,  Queen  Victoria.  Her  Majesty 
was  born  in  England,  her  father  German,  her 
mother  English.  When  she  was  called  to  the 
throne,  she  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful,  charm- 
ing and  highly  educated  girls  imaginable.  Her 
beauty  was  not  spectacular.  It  lay  rather  in 
—  xxii  — 


INTRODUCTION 

her  exquisite  colouring,  her  sweet  expression,  and 
her  calm,  tender  eyes.  She  was  thoroughly  unso- 
phisticated because  her  education  had  been  zeal- 
ously guarded  from  any  knowledge  of  the  world. 
Her  imagination  had  been  suppressed,  and  when 
she  came  to  the  throne  of  England,  it  was  with  no 
hindrance  of  imaginative  splendour.  Her  engage- 
ment to  the  Prince  Consort,  Albert  the  Good,  as  he 
was  called,  began  at  a  garden  party  which  was  held 
in  Richmond  Park  at  White  Lodge,  where  she  fell 
in  love  with  him  at  first  sight.  He,  too,  belonged 
to  a  German  house,  the  family  of  Coburg-Gotha, 
renowned  for  handsome  and  stalwart  men.  When 
he  first  arrived  in  England,  the  Court  Ladies  unani- 
mously voted  that  he  was  an  Adonis.  This  brought 
about  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  for  Queen  Victoria, 
being  human  and  very  much  in  love,  became  in- 
tensely jealous  of  her  Ladies-in- Waiting. 

Among  the  attractive  and  handsome  women  of 
the  English  court  was  Lady  Florence  Hastings. 
Justly  or  unjustly,  she  was  suspected  by  Her  Maj- 
esty Queen  Victoria  of  being  a  favourite  of  the 
Prince  Consort.  There  are  various  forms  of  tor- 
ture which  the  etiquette  of  royalty  can  inflict  upon 
members  of  the  Court  of  inferior  rank.  Queen  Vic- 
toria's method  of  visiting  her  wrath  upon  Lady 

—  xxiii  — 


INTRODUCTION 

Florence  Hastings  was  a  refined  cruelty.  The 
Queen  would  frequently  keep  her  standing  for 
hours,  until  she  almost  fainted.  It  was  a  delicate 
way  of  confirming  an  indelicate  suspicion.  Finally 
Lady  Hastings  was  ostracised,  the  Hastings  family 
never  appeared  at  Court,  and  her  Ladyship  died 
at  an  early  age,  of  a  broken  heart. 

This  incident  of  Queen  Victoria's  adolescent  pe- 
riod of  romance  seems  hard  to  reconcile  with  the 
discretion  and  care  shown  later  by  Her  Majesty  in 
bringing  up  her  family.  All  her  life  she  loved  very 
deeply,  and  all  her  life  she  lived  very  simply. 

The  more  one  considers  the  blood  relationship  of 
the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  the  more  one  won- 
ders how  this  war  could  ever  have  become  a  fact, 
when  one  remembers  that  Queen  Victoria  was  the 
grandmother  of  the  Kaiser,  the  grandmother  of 
King  George  and  numerous  other  crowned  heads. 
Queen  Victoria  actually  adored  her  son-in-law, 
Kaiser  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  who,  during  his  reign, 
was  in  reality  the  greatest  friend  England  ever  pos- 
sessed. 

As  a  woman,  her  modesty  of  toilettes  was  famous. 

Her  admiration  for  Disraeli  confirms  the  general 

impression  of  her  supreme  taste  for  diplomacy.    He 

made  her  Empress  of  India,  and  doubtless  her  own 

—  xxiv  — 


INTRODUCTION 

wisdom  vastly  helped  his  reputation  as  Lord  Bea- 
consfield. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  Disraeli  in  pol- 
itics was  for  peace,  for  international  good  will  to- 
wards Europe.  His  conservatism  was  entirely  in 
sympathy  with  the  character  of  his  Queen,  and  his 
antagonism  towards  Gladstone  was  merely  politi- 
cal. As  men,  they  mutually  had  many  things  in 
common. 

The  influence  of  English  women  at  Court  upon 
the  political  conflicts  between  Disraeli  and  Glad- 
stone was  largely  inspired  by  their  social  ambitions. 
Both  Tories  and  Whigs  played  a  great  role  in  so- 
cial affairs,  and  it  was  the  custom  for  Court  beau- 
ties to  attain  notoriety  by  their  cleverness  in  politi- 
cal intelligence. 

Among  the  most  brilliant  of  these  court  beauties 
of  this  time  was  the  Duchess  of  Manchester  who 
was  well  known  as  the  guiding  political  spirit  of 
Lord  Hartington,  the  leader  of  the  Tories.  The 
Duke  of  Manchester  was  really  a  nonentity,  and 
agreeably  played  that  one-stringed  instrument  in 
society  called  "second  fiddle."  Most  of  the  bril- 
liant coups  of  Lord  Hartington's  political  career 
were  planned  by  the  Duchess  of  Manchester  for 
him.    She  was  a  dashing,  emotional  woman  who  in 

—  xxv  — 


INTRODUCTION 

her  younger  days  became  famous  for  disguising  her- 
self in  an  officer's  uniform  of  the  Hanoverian  Light 
Brigade  so  that  she  could  visit  the  officers'  mess,  and 
enjoy  the  liberties  of  these  occasions. 

Her  intense  cleverness  prevented  any  open  scan- 
dal. Before  her  marriage  she  was  the  Countess  von 
Alten,  and  created  a  furor  at  the  Court  of  the  blind 
King  of  Hanover,  where  beautiful  women  were  as 
common  as  the  sands  by  the  sea.  Her  sister,  Countess 
Grothe,  though  almost  as  beautiful,  was  an  entirely 
different  type.  She  was  petite  and  dainty,  while 
the  Duchess  of  Manchester  was  tall,  imperious  and 
very  haughty.  Her  manner  towards  inferiors  was 
sometimes  rude.  She  was  the  most  perfectly  formed 
woman  among  the  beauties  of  England,  and  on  this 
account  scandalous  people  declared  that  she  never 
wore  any  undergarments.  The  reason  for  this,  it 
was  said,  was  because  she  desired  to  live  up  to  the 
standard  of  the  ancient  Romans,  whose  women  were 
so  fascinating  and  so  statuesque.  The  aim  and  pur- 
pose of  this  Court  beauty,  under  the  reign  of  Queen 
Victoria,  was  to  capture  the  Prince  of  Wales  at  a 
period  when  his  youth  was  most  impressionable. 
To  the  Duchess  of  Manchester  belongs  the  record 
at  the  Court  of  St.  James  of  inaugurating  the 
Prince  of  Wales'  taste  and  admiration  for  lovely 
—  xxvi  — 


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CERTIFICATE    GRANTED    BY    QUEEN    ALEXANDRA 

Her  gracious  Majesty  Queen  Alexandra's  appointment  was  bestowed  upon  the 
author  in  appreciation  of  the  author's  great  endeavor  to  please  the  beautiful 
Queen   and   meet   her  exquisite   taste   in    gowning   exclusively. 


INTRODUCTION 

women.  She  was  the  guiding  star  in  the  brilliant 
career  which  King  Edward  VII  pursued  among  the 
beauties  of  his  period.  As  the  years  fastened  upon 
them  both,  she  still  remained  a  favourite  advisor 
in  his  international  diplomacy,  and  after  his  mar- 
riage she  became  the  confidential  friend  of  Queen 
Alexandra,  from  the  time  she  entered  London  as 
a  bride. 

Queen  Alexandra  was  the  most  beautiful  per- 
sonification of  everything  that  is  perfect  in  woman, 
and  I  say  this  with  a  personal  knowledge  of  this 
wonderful  woman  and  exquisite  Queen.  She  was 
one  of  the  beautiful  daughters  of  the  King  of  Den- 
mark. She  was  modestly  brought  up,  quietly  edu- 
cated. When  the  Prince  of  Wales  first  met  her  at 
the  Court  of  Hessen  in  Darmstadt,  he  was  over- 
powered by  her  modesty,  her  simplicity,  and  her 
beauty.  From  the  time  she  entered  London  and 
received  that  marvellous  ovation,  until  to-day,  she 
has  retained  the  love  of  the  English  people  and 
their  admiration.  The  grace  of  her  demeanour,  her 
glorious  figure,  her  gracious  manners,  her  unfail- 
ing courtesy,  and  her  wonderful  taste  in  clothes, 
through  which  she  became  the  best  dressed  woman 
in  Europe,  had  made  her  the  favourite  Queen  of 
all  Europe. 

—  xxvii  — 


INTRODUCTION 

No  breath  of  scandal  has  ever  reached  the  world 
about  her,  but  there  lurks  in  the  heart  of  Alexan- 
dra a  secret  romance.  One  glorious  thought  dwells 
in  her  mind  of  a  man  who  suddenly  became  one  of 
the  accomplished  officers  in  the  Egyptian  war.  He 
was  a  great  friend  of  her  favourite  son,  the  late 
Duke  of  Clarence.  He  worshipped  on  her  shrine 
till  he  died,  and  when  he  was  called  away  in  com- 
parative youth,  Her  Majesty  Alexandra  never 
quite  got  over  the  shock.  It  was  after  his  death  that 
she  always  bore  that  little  atmosphere  of  deep  sor- 
row in  her  eyes,  of  deep  grief  in  her  heart.  There 
is  an  altar  in  her  heart  where  she  worships  that 
adoration  of  her  youth  in  secret.  She  recalls  those 
happy  times  when  in  a  little  canoe  they  glided  up 
and  down  the  beautiful  river  canopied  by  the  weep- 
ing willows,  in  the  shadow  of  those  sublime  old  oaks 
in  Windsor  Forest,  bathed  in  the  moonlight  of  those 
evenings  of  supreme  happiness.  It  was  an  idyl,  and 
I  believe  that  Her  Majesty  always  dwelt  upon  this 
beautiful  romance  with  a  sad  but  glorious  satisfac- 
tion that  to  the  pure  all  is  pure.  Her  life  has  been 
one  of  continuous  charity  for  others.  She  has  a 
wonderful  propensity  for  gowning  herself;  she  is 
imbibed  with  that  wonderful  sense  of  rhythm  and 
symphony  in  colour.  Her  harmonious  combination 
—  xxviii  — 


INTRODUCTION 

of  the  ultra  smart  and  yet  distinguished  toilettes 
was  always  a  creation  of  her  own,  given  to  her  dress- 
maker. Every  woman  at  the  Court  of  St.  James 
was  ambitious  to  imitate  her  effect  in  gowns.  I 
believe  that  in  her  saddest  moment  she  never  for- 
got outward  appearances,  which  is  a  graceful  virtue 
all  women  will  do  well  to  cultivate. 

The  relationship  of  royalty  between  Germany 
and  England  extended  in  so  many  directions  over 
Europe,  and  by  such  diplomatic  matrimonial  direc- 
tions as  Queen  Victoria  herself  planned,  that  it 
would  seem  as  though  a  deliberate  purpose  to  es- 
tablish universal  peace  in  Europe  was  actually  the 
hope  of  the  wise  Queen  of  England.  By  her  tact 
and  guidance  these  relationships  in  the  royalty  of 
Europe  were  extended.  They  included  the  won- 
derful relationship  of  the  House  of  Coburg-Gotha, 
of  the  Wittellsbach,  of  the  Hessians.  In  fact,  it 
extended  to  Roumania,  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Denmark 
and  Russia.  Who  would  have  believed  that  the 
twentieth  century  would  become  an  abyss  where  all 
sentiment  has  been  unavoidably  drowned,  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  horror  of  war? 

The  Princess  Royal,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Queen 
Victoria,  who  married  German  royalty,  inherited 
the  tendency  of  her  mother  for  jealousy.     There 

—  xxix  — 


INTRODUCTION 

are  many  stories  told  confirming  this  fact.  It  is 
said  that  when  she  lived  at  the  palace  in  Berlin 
during  the  first  year  of  her  marriage,  she  ran  out 
of  the  palace  one  night,  hatless,  a  short  distance 
across  the  palace  grounds,  to  complain  to  her 
mother-in-law,  the  Kaiserin  Augusta,  that  she  had 
just  seen  a  wonderful  parure  of  jewels  which  was 
being  sent  to  the  greatest  prima  donna  of  her  time 
by  her  royal  and  beloved  husband.  It  is  said  that 
the  Kaiserin  Augusta  told  her  that  such  little  things 
occurred  so  often  in  the  sphere  of  royalty,  she  must 
become  accustomed  to  them.  The  English  princess 
went  back  to  her  palace  home,  still  crying,  but  more 
reconciled  to  the  fact  that  all  men  are  untrust- 
worthy. This  may  have  been  a  crisis  in  her  per- 
ception of  royal  privileges,  for  her  after  life  was  a 
most  happy  one. 

I  remember  vividly  the  day  when  the  present 
Kaiser  was  born.  I  was  only  a  little  girl  and  be- 
longed to  one  of  the  church  choirs  which  Her  Royal 
Highness  patronised.  I  can  see  her  now  with  the 
Kaiser  entering  the  salon  where  we  children  stood 
waiting  for  them.  I  can  see  her  showing  us  the 
war  lord  looking  like  a  baby  cherub  in  her  arms. 
The  royal  parents  were  just  as  proud  as  any  other 
ordinary  parents,  and  especially  one  felt  how  won- 
—  xxx  — 


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CERTIFICATE   GRANTED   BY   QUEEN    MARY 

Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary  sent  her  "Lord  Chamberlain"  (Lord  Shaftesbury; 
to  bring  personally  her  appointment  to  the  author — the  first  lady  to  receive 
from  the  Queen  of  England  and  Great  Britain  this  appointment  as  her  dress- 
maker. 


INTRODUCTION 

derfully  attached  to  each  other  they  were.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  bewitching  pictures  one  can  im- 
agine. It  was  the  fashion  then  to  wear  crinolines, 
and  I  recall  how  difficult  it  was  for  her  Imperial 
Highness  to  squeeze  through  the  ample  portieres. 

The  simplicity  of  the  Victorian  Court  frequently 
placed  her  Imperial  Highness  after  her  marriage 
to  Kaiser  Friedrich  in  embarrassing  positions. 
Her  Ladies-in- Waiting,  in  Berlin,  stood  aghast 
one  day  when  she  requested  one  of  them  to  bring 
in  a  tea  pot  and  kettle.  The  Court  etiquette  in 
Germany  was  much  more  formal  and  strict  than  it 
was  in  England.  When  the  Lady-in-Waiting  did 
not  obey  the  royal  command,  her  Imperial  High- 
ness turned  smilingly  and  said: 

"If  Queen  Victoria  can  make  her  own  tea,  surely 
the  Crown  Princess  of  Prussia  can  do  the  same." 

She  was  most  informal,  most  charitable,  very 
clever  and  industrious.  The  little  covering  of  the 
cradle  of  the  present  Kaiser  was  entirely  embroid- 
ered by  her  on  white  satin  with  the  escutcheon  of 
the  Hohenzollerns.  Many  people  must  recall  how 
all  England  rejoiced  when  Queen  Victoria  heard 
of  the  birth  of  her  eldest  grandson,  the  present 
Kaiser.  The  event  was  made  a  holiday  for  the 
masses  and  for  all  classes.     No  one  was  more  de- 

— xxxi — 


INTRODUCTION 

voted  to  the  Crown  Princess  of  Germany  than  her 
brother,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  gave  her  away 
at  the  wedding.     He  was  entirely  devoted  to  her. 

I  still  remember  that  royal  wedding  day  in  Ber- 
lin. It  was  a  cold,  snowy,  icy  day.  The  triumphal 
arch  was  covered  with  snow  and  ice  flowers. 
It  was  a  wonderful  background.  The  royal  cou- 
ple, driving  slowly  along  in  their  carriage,  were 
preceded  by  a  few  sweet  girls  who,  on  that  cold 
day,  dressed  in  thin  muslin  dresses,  threw  bouquets 
of  flowers  in  front  of  the  horses.  Their  enthusiasm 
kept  them  warm,  for  when  the  baskets  were  empty 
they  threw  them  through  the  carriage  windows. 

In  the  intervening  years  the  lives  of  royalty  went 
on  in  the  usual  torpid  way,  and  a  large  family 
grew  up, — a  family  which  includes  Prince  Henry  of 
Prussia,  the  Queen  of  Greece,  Princess  of  Langen- 
burg  Hesse,  and  one  son,  Prince  Waldemar,  who 
died  in  his  early  youth. 

No  one  was  more  popular  or  intimate  with  the 
present  Kaiser  than  the  late  British  Ambassador, 
Sir  Edward  Malet,  and  Lady  Ermyntrude  Malet 
in  Berlin.  The  Kaiser  usually  spent  an  hour  every 
day  at  the  British  Embassy.  Lady  Ermyntrude 
Malet  was  one  of  the  most  intellectual  women  in 
the  diplomatic  family.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
—  xxxii  — 


INTRODUCTION 

the  Duke  of  Bedford,  one  of  the  richest  Dukes  in 
England.  Her  mother,  the  Duchess  of  Bedford, 
was  one  of  the  bridesmaids  at  the  wedding  of  Her 
Majesty  Queen  Victoria.  She  spent  almost  a 
king's  ransom  for  her  wonderful  jewels  and  laces, 
many  of  which  came  down  through  generations  of 
the  Bedford  family. 

So  the  blood  ties  between  the  royalties  of  Eng- 
land and  Germany  seemed  to  grow  closer  and  surer 
in  sentiment  of  good  will  as  the  years  went  by. 
The  present  Queen  of  England,  Queen  Mary,  still 
perpetuates  this  close  relationship,  being  the 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Teck  and  the  Duchess  of 
Teck,  who  were  closely  related  to  the  Royal  House 
of  Wurtemberg.  The  mother  of  the  Duke  of  Teck 
was  the  daughter  of  a  Hungarian  land  owner. 
She  was  wooed  by  the  father  of  the  Duke  of  Teck, 
and  was  considered  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  of  her  time.  The  Duchess  of  Teck  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  women  of  England,  not 
only  with  the  Court,  but  especially  with  the  people 
themselves.  She  was  a  cousin  of  King  Edward. 
It  was  once  expected  that  she  would  inherit  the 
throne,  as  her  mother,  the  Duchess  of  Kent,  and 
her  brother,  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  were  the  di- 
rect descendants  of  the  Kents. 

—  xxxiii  - 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface    v 

Introduction xxi 

CHAPTER 

I   Court  Beauties  of  the  Second  Empire      43 
II   Recollections  of  Queen  Victoria       .       78 

III  Royal  Gamblers  and  Their  Amours   .       97 

IV  Court  Society  Around  the  Prince  of 

Wales 116 

V  The  Gallantries  of  His  Royal  High- 
ness      131 

VI   Brides  and  Wedding  Gowns    of  the 

Court  of  St.  James  ....     147 

VII   A  Royal  Love  Affair 156 

VIII    Authors  and  Actors  of  King  Edward's 

Reign 172 

IX    The  Modern  Spirit  of  King  Edward's 

Rule 195 

X   His   Majesty's   Last   Affair   of   the 

Heart 208 

XI   Some    Beauties    of    King    Edward's 

Reign 219 

XII   Personal  Anecdotes  of  Queen  Mary    229 

XIII   Some  Beautiful  American  Women  in 

England 240 

xxxv 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIV   Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Roumania  254 

XV   Other  Memories  in  England    .      .      .  262 

XVI   Some  Famous  Grandes  Dames   .      .      .  279 

XVII   Some  Recollections  of  Royal  Chil- 
dren      291 

XVIII   Ministers    and    Prime    Ministers    I 

Have  Known 303 

XIX  The  Last  London  Season  Before  the 

War 320 

XX   My  Last  Days  in  London     ....  344 


xxxvi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Franzisca,  Baroness  von  Hedemann   .    Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The  Fitting-Room  in  the  House  of  Frederic     xiv 

The  Reception  Room  in  the  House  of  Frederic  xviii 

Certificate  Granted  by  Queen  Alexandra   .  xxvi 

Certificate  Granted  by  Queen  Mary        .      .    xxx 

Baroness  de  Ramelm  and  her  Daughters  at 

the  Swedish  Embassy 62 

Lady  Winifred  Renshaw 88 

Queen  Mary 150 

Certificate  Granted  by  Princess  Mary  Ade- 
laide, Duchess  of  Teck 210 

Certificate  Given  by  the  Queen  of  Roumania    256 

The  Royal  Children         298 

The  Countess  of  Warwick 328 


XXXVll 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 


LOVE  STORIES  OF 
COURT  BEAUTIES 

CHAPTER  I 

COURT  BEAUTIES  OF  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE 

I  love  to  dwell  upon  this  period  of  my  life  in 
France  because  it  was  the  preparatory  stage  in  the 
career  of  the  House  of  Frederic.  It  brings  back 
to  me  also  such  wonderfully  unique  experiences, 
such  brilliant  incidents.  Those  were  the  times  when 
Napoleon  III  and  the  beautiful  Empress  Eugenie 
congregated  at  Compiegne.  Around  them  gath- 
ered the  pleasure-loving  and  exquisite  society  of 
the  period.  At  Compiegne,  during  the  hunting 
season,  it  was  very  picturesque  to  see  them  assem- 
bled in  their  bottle-green  hunting  costumes.  The 
women  wore  riding  habits  with  long  sweeping 
trains,  cavalier  coats,  jabots  of  real  lace,  and  the 
three-cornered  hats,  edged  with  ostrich  plumes. 

Napoleon  III,  after  making  a  triumphal  tour  of 
the  Courts  of  Europe  as  a  prospective  bridegroom, 

43 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

returned  from  his  adventures  unsuccessful.  He 
was  unable  to  realise  his  ambition,  for  wherever 
he  knocked  at  the  door  of  these  royal  palaces  he 
received  a  polite  refusal, — and  finally  he  came  to 
Spain,  where  he  met  Madame  de  Mont  joy,  the 
mother  of  La  Belle  Eugenie.  Mademoiselle  de 
Mont  joy  was,  I  believe,  at  the  time  of  her  mar- 
riage, already  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  of 
marvellous  beauty.  Exceptional  was  her  hair,  coils 
upon  coils  of  auburn  tresses  formed  a  halo  to  her 
oval  face  full  of  vivacity.  Her  eyes  were  a  violet 
blue,  and  the  discreet  long  lashes  gave  her  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  modern  madonna.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber ever  having  seen  a  more  perfect  woman.  She 
was  terribly  ambitious  to  grace  the  throne  of 
France,  which  she  achieved,  and  then,  as  the  Em- 
press Eugenie,  she  became  an  epoch-making  wo- 
man. 

It  was  the  Empress  who  made  Paris  the  city  of 
luxury,  of  abundant  pleasure.  It  was  she  who 
made  it  the  rendezvous  of  the  world.  It  was  she 
who  induced  the  great  architect,  Baron  Housmann, 
to  build  the  beautiful  Boulevard  Housmann,  and 
the  delightful  Avenue  de  l'Opera,  where  the  first 
great  electric  lamps  shed  their  brilliancy  to  show 
the  contrast  with  the  gas  lamps  of  former  days. 
—44— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

Eugenie  loved  colour  and  light,  gaiety  and  per- 
petual life.  She  possessed  the  power  to  mentally 
intoxicate  her  surroundings,  her  companions. 
Young  and  old  followed  where  she  led.  It  was  a 
marvellous  sight  to  see  her  driving  in  her  open 
barouche  drawn  by  four  beautiful  stallions.  Thou- 
sands of  spectators  awaited  her  coming  to  cheer 
her  as  she  passed,  and  to  enjoy  her  bewitching  and 
ingratiating  smile.  Her  toilettes  were  wonderful, 
she  had  a  great  deal  of  personal  taste,  and  her  ori- 
ginal colour  schemes  wrere  adopted  by  Worth. 

What  an  empire  she  ruled. 

She  has  loved  much,  she  has  suffered  much,  she 
has  borne  everything  bravely.  When  the  Ameri- 
can doctor  who  saved  her  from  a  hideous  fate 
brought  this  proud  and  ambitious  woman  to  Eng- 
land, where  she  found  a  home,  Queen  Victoria  gra- 
ciously extended  hospitality  and  sympathy  to  her 
for  the  loss  of  her  Empire,  her  husband,  and  her 
son.  No  wonder  France  has  at  last  awakened  to 
the  sincere  regard  which  the  British  Empire  has 
always  had  for  Frenchmen. 

To-day  the  Ex-Empress  Eugenie  is  beautiful  to 
look  at.  She  still  walks  erect,  she  is  still  surrounded 
by  some  of  her  devoted  friends.  Her  English  home 
in  Farnborough  is  very  beautiful,  and  her  goal  of 

—45— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

pilgrimage  daily  is  to  the  mausoleum  of  her  hus- 
band and  son. 

It  was  the  Empress  Eugenie  who  created  for 
Worth  his  world-wide  prestige.  Re  was  made  the 
arbiter  of  fashion,  the  entire  aristocracy  went  to 
him.  He  amassed  a  colossal  fortune  and  built 
himself  a  wonderful  castle  at  Surenne  near  Paris, 
filled  with  exquisite  things.  It  was  sumptuous 
and  at  the  same  time  very  comfortable.  The 
House  of  Worth  still  flourishes,  the  business  being 
conducted  by  his  grandson.  Worth  was  an  Eng- 
lishman. His  wife  was  a  beautiful  woman,  and 
was  very  much  admired  by  one  of  those  Russian 
grandees  who  often  come  to  Paris  to  be  charmed 
and  to  charm.  There  are  two  events  in  my  life  in 
Paris  during  the  Second  Empire  which  I  shall 
not  forget.  One  was  the  pageant  reception  at 
the  Tuileries,  and  the  other  was  a  glimpse  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie  at  the  races  in  Longchamps. 

The  scene  at  the  Tuileries  was  a  sight  for  the 
gods.  When  the  Empress  Eugenie  faced  that 
wonderful  blaze  of  light  and  beauty,  leaning  on 
the  arm  of  Napoleon  III,  a  breathless  silence  pre- 
vailed. The  crowds  gasped  with  admiration,  as  if 
they  were  watching  some  exquisite  apparition.  She 
was  surrounded  by  her  galaxy  of  fair  women.  They 
—46— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

stood  upon  a  raised  dias  of  royal  blue.  Napoleon  III 
looked  almost  as  tall  as  herself.    The  music  of  the 
orchestra  was  by  Gounod  and  Meyerbeer.    I  have 
never  forgotten  a  single  detail  of  her  gown.  It  was 
so  attractive  and  so  well  thought  out  that  it  im- 
pressed itself  forever  upon  my  mind.  It  was  a  satin 
Duchess  robe  in  an  oyster-shell  tone,  richly  and  pro- 
fusely embroidered,  with  a  stole  of  tulle  Arabesque 
bordered  with  precious  stones,  held  up  with  agrafes 
of    diamonds,    a    slight    hoop    skirt    or    crinoline 
showing   an   ample   skirt,   leaving   a   very   small 
train  from  the  hips.    A  Dalmatian  mantle  of  bleu 
ardoise    (steel  blue)    in  Lyons  velvet  was  slung 
from  under  the  arms  a  length  of  over  four  yards, 
which  had  enormous  bunches  of  violets  de  Parities 
and  mignonette  embroidered  in  relief  with  floss  silk. 
The  effect  was  marvellous  and  more  than  beautiful. 
Two  pages  carried  this  masterpiece  of  the  dress- 
makers' arts  at  least  three  feet  behind  her,  to  allow 
the  whole  creation  to  be  seen  from  every  nook  and 
corner  of  the  assembly.     Her  crown  of  brilliants  of 
the  purest  Brazilian  lustre,  in  great  spikes,  stand- 
ing upwards,  tipped  with  huge  black  pearls  and 
dew-drops  of  diamond  chainettes,  from  the  centre 
of  that  crown,  were  fastened  to  the  train  with  three 
Persian  turquoises,  big  as  a  hen's  egg.    Her  fan 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

was  curiously  interesting.  It  was  of  real  point  de 
Gauze,  and  the  sticks  were  entirely  of  brilliants, 
with  her  monogram  and  imperial  crown  of  dia- 
monds, turquoises,  sapphires  and  topaz,  which 
hung  from  her  girdle. 

The  Court  dress  of  Napoleon  was  the  simple 
"dress  clothes"  of  to-day,  a  wide  blue  ribbon  across 
his  shirt  bosom,  a  huge  star  of  brilliants  on  the 
left  lapel  of  his  coat.  He  was  very  dignified,  al- 
most stern,  yet  a  little  smile  would  linger  on  his 
lips,  when  some  homage  was  paid  him.  The  Duke 
de  Bassano,  Monsieur  Pietri,  the  Chef  de  Police, 
the  Duke  de  Magenta,  Prince  Sagan,  with  his 
charming  princess,  General  Gallifet  and  his  more 
than  lovely  wife,  Prince  and  Princess  Paul  Metter- 
nich,  La  Belle  Laide  (so  baptised  by  Napoleon) 
were  all  there. 

Her  Imperial  Highness,  Empress  Eugenie, 
fully  appreciated  the  volatile  nature,  the  romance 
and  sparkle  of  the  French  people.  I  remember 
once  at  the  races  at  Longchamps,  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  Empress  told  me  what  a  striking 
and  beautiful  creature  she  found  the  lovely  Baru- 
chi  was  to  look  at.  She  was  a  glorious  brunette, 
Italian  by  birth,  the  dear  friend  of  Prince  Murat. 
She  appeared  on  this  occasion  in  a  black  princess 
—48— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

robe  of  Chantilly  over  cerise  peau  de  soie,  a  lace 
skirt,  a  little  parasol  to  match,  cerise  silk  stockings 
embroidered  in  black,  suede  shoes  with  silver 
buckles,  and  the  tiniest  hat.  Her  carriage  was 
lined  with  crimson,  and  black  buttons.  The  foot- 
men wore  a  livery  of  crimson  and  black. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  picture  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie  herself  on  that  eventful  Sunday  at  Long- 
champs.  She  appeared  in  a  robe  of  turquoise 
taffeta  all  flounced  to  the  waist,  trimmed  with  tiny 
narrow  blue  Sevres  ribbons  edging  the  flounces;  a 
white  mantilla  of  Spanish  lace,  a  hat  of  Italian 
straw,  trimmed  with  bunches  of  corn  flowers  and 
forget-me-nots.  She  was  universally  admired  as 
she  drove  up  in  the  Imperial  carriage  drawn  by 
four  horses  with  postillion  outriders,  Napoleon  III 
at  her  side,  and  Prince  Lulu  and  General  Fleury, 
the  Adjutant,  facing  her.  It  seems  only  yester- 
day, so  freshly  is  the  picture  imprinted  on  my  mind. 

What  a  background  the  delightful  Bois  de  Bou- 
logne made,  on  the  borders  of  the  lake ! 

Those  were  days  of  continual  gaiety,  of  his- 
torical illuminations  and  grand  balls.  Who  will 
forget  that  gala  night  at  the  opera,  when  the  Czar 
of  Russia  was  visiting  Paris?  It  was  during  this 
visit  that  some  madman  shot  at  the  Emperor  in  the 

—49— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Bois  de  Boulogne.  What  a  commotion,  and  how 
well  I  remember  the  indignation  of  the  French 
people!  Yet  he  was  present  at  the  opera  that 
night.  The  programme  was  "L'Africaine."  That 
was  the  day  when  Lasalle  was  the  world's  famous 
basso,  and  Madame  Sachs  was  the  prima  donna  of 
the  evening.  What  a  tremendous  shout  of  en- 
thusiasm greeted  the  Emperor  of  Russia  when  he 
entered  the  royal  box  with  Napoleon  III  and  Em- 
press Eugenie,  surrounded  by  their  courtiers  I 

"Vive  le  Czar,  vive  l'lmperatrice." 

The  noise  was  deafening.  All  degrees  and 
classes  of  people  mingled  together  courteously, 
pro  tem,  at  that  wonderful  operatic  event.  For  a 
time  they  forgot  their  old  feuds,  their  positions, 
their  ambitions.  The  harmony  of  Meyerbeer's 
music,  the  glorious  voices  of  the  great  prima  donna 
and  basso,  made  even  these  Potentates  human. 
The  charm  of  that  elaborate,  marvellous  assembly 
must  still  be  vivid  in  the  memory  of  many  now 
living,  who  had  the  pleasure  and  advantage  to 
see  it. 

All  the  world  came  to  Paris,  and  whenever  the 
Imperial  couple  drove  out  in  public,  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  cavalry.  The  constant  attendant  of 
—50— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

Empress  Eugenie  was  Major  Johnstone,  who  stood 
six  feet  four.  Every  one  adored  him,  he  was  all 
but  worshipped.  His  station  was  always  near  the 
boudoir  of  Her  Imperial  Majesty,  and,  of  course, 
scandal  deftly  tried  to  embarrass  this  idyl.  The 
Empress  was  quite  able  to  take  care  of  her  reputa- 
tion, however,  and  when  her  only  son,  Prince  Lulu, 
as  he  was  called,  came  into  the  limelight,  such  mat- 
ters were  forgotten.  Undesirables  flocked  to 
Paris,  swayed  upon  the  threshold  of  society  but 
never  could  enter  the  precincts.  Huge  sums  were 
paid  by  the  Rastaqueres  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
social  paradise,  but  Eugenie  was  exclusive,  and  if 
in  her  youth  she  had  not  been  quite  so  particular, 
it  must  be  laid  at  the  door  of  her  mother's  gener- 
osity, who  always  wanted  to  befriend  the  cavaliers 
who  were  blessed  with  the  Golden  Fleece,  the 
greatest  order  in  Spain.  In  her  early  days,  before 
her  marriage,  the  Empress  enjoyed  the  freedom 
of  the  Spanish  nobility,  with  glee  and  zest. 

France  was  a  paradise  of  all  that  art  and  luxury 
could  procure  in  the  Second  Empire.  When  the 
war  of  '70  broke  out,  it  was  Her  Imperial  High- 
ness who  called  it  "my  war,"  which  called  forth  the 
following  verses  in  Germany: — 

—51— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

"Doch  das  eine  must  du  wissen, 
Mark  dires  wenn  es  dir  beliebt 
Das  der  Schwindel  hier  zu  Ende 
Wenn's  am  Rhine  Keile  giebt." 

Such  were  the  words  accredited  from  the  Em- 
peror of  France  to  the  Empress  Eugenie. 

Another  great  historic  event  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire was  the  celebration  opening  the  Suez  Canal, 
at  which  their  Imperial  Majesties,  Napoleon  III 
and  Empress.  Eugenie,  were  the  inspiring  figures. 
I  remember  distinctly  the  celebrated  Monsieur  de 
Lesseps,  who,  standing  with  his  lovely  Creole  wife, 
was  decorated  with  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour.  Having  created  this  colossal  engineering 
feat,  if  Monsieur  de  Lesseps  had  only  halted  there ! 
Then,  the  fiasco  of  Panama  would  never  have  been 
possible. 

This  occasion  was  "la  folie  de  grandeur/'  Her 
Imperial  Majesty  Empress  Eugenie  absorbed  all 
interest,  lending  a  natural  charm  and  grace  to  the 
historical  importance  of  this  gigantic  enterprise. 
All  clamoured  to  do  her  homage.  The  wonderful 
festivities,  the  illuminations  at  night,  the  fireworks, 
were  upon  a  scale  which  fairly  beggars  description. 

Many  of  those  wonderful  women  of  the  Second 
Empire  had  not  survived  the  years  as  well  as  the 
—52— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

beautiful  Empress  Eugenie.  And  yet  there  were 
many  ravishing  beauties  to  remember. 

It  was  Napoleon  III  who  christened  the  Prin- 
cess Pauline  Metternich,  La  Belle  Laide.  She 
was  one  of  the  many  women  of  the  Second  Empire 
who  understood  the  art  of  dress  to  perfection. 
The  Princess  Metternich  was  small,  piquant,  won- 
derfully spirituelle  in  appearance,  which  belied  her 
otherwise  rather  caustic  and  ready  wit.  This  gift 
of  satire  often  placed  her  in  very  awkward  posi- 
tions, yet  she  managed  to  extricate  herself  at  all 
times  valiantly.  She  was  famous  for  her  repartee. 
Her  toilettes  were  proverbially  regarded  as  inspir- 
ing, her  smart  turnout,  her  thoroughbred  horses, 
were  all  of  the  finest.  She  was  very  popular  at 
the  Imperial  Court.  She  was  formerly  Countess 
Chandos,  and  her  brother  distinguished  himself  by 
the  marvellous  feat  of  swimming  the  Danube  on 
horseback. 

Then  there  was  the  tall  and  graceful  Madame 
Gallifet,  who  created  a  style  all  her  own.  She  was 
the  wife  of  the  celebrated  General  Gallifet.  She 
was  a  famous  horsewoman,  a  sparkling  conversa- 
tionalist, and  a  power  at  the  Imperial  Court  that 
everyone  recognised.  Although  she  was  extremely 
popular,  she  was  exclusive  to  a  degree.    Her  salons 

—53— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

were  the  vogue,  and  all  the  society  of  Paris  at  that 
period  was  very  anxious  to  be  asked  to  her  inti- 
mate receptions.  It  was  Madame  Gallifet  who 
originated  a  witticism  that  has  since  been  used  by 
dramatists  and  wits. 

To  the  old  Marquis  de  N she  said : 

"Why  do  you  not  marry  the  Duchess  de  C ?" 

"My  dear  Madame,  where  do  you  imagine,  in 
that  case,  I  could  spend  my  evenings?"  he  replied. 
Madame  Gallifet  startled  the  Paris  fashions  by 
the  daring  of  her  gowns,  for  which  nature  had 
amply  fitted  her.  The  celebrated  Worth  was  her 
favourite  dressmaker.  We  have  not  been  able  to 
improve  upon  the  artistic  designs  which  Worth 
created  for  these  exquisite  women  of  the  Second 
Empire. 

The  tailor-made  woman  had  scarcely  arrived  at 
this  time,  and  therefore,  it  is  perhaps  safe  to  say 
that  the  Marquise  d'Elboeuf,  later  the  Duchess  de 
Morny,  was  the  first  mannish  type  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Her  brother  emphasised  her  masculine 
tendencies  by  a  story  told  of  him  at  the  club.  In  a 
burst  of  enthusiasm  one  evening,  and  of  pardon- 
able vanity,  he  made  the  following  confidence  to  a 
friend : 

—54— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

"My  sister  and  myself,"  he  said,  "have  known 
intimately  the  most  beautiful  women  in  Paris." 

The  Paris  of  long  ago  enjoyed  its  gaiety  in  true 
Parisian  quality.  To  the  rest  of  the  world  this 
may  have  seemed  occasionally  scandalous,  but  to 
Paris  it  was  mere  harmless  exuberance  of  wit. 
Paris  was  extravagant  in  the  days  of  the  Second 
Empire. 

At  a  certain  exclusive  club  in  Paris  the  beautiful 
"Isabelle"  sold  buttonhole  bouquets  at  fabulous 
prices.  A  hundred  francs  for  a  gardenia,  fifty 
francs  for  a  rosebud,  twenty-five  francs  for  a  bunch 
of  violets.  She  retired  with  a  fortune  of  a  mil- 
lion francs.  The  gallants  of  the  period  would 
never  dream  of  appearing  at  the  race-track  with- 
out wearing  one  of  "Isabelle's"  boutonnieres.  With 
a  black  lace  mantilla  draped  over  her  handsome 
head,  a  plain  black  cashmere  princess  gown  that 
displayed  her  wonderful  figure,  everybody  in  the 
grande  monde  talked  to  her,  told  her  little  tidbits 
of  scandal,  challenged  her  in  conversation.  "Isa- 
belle" was  typical  of  Paris  of  the  Second  Empire. 

The  Magnificent  homes  on  the  Champs  £lysee  in 
Paris  all  had  their  romances  of  one  sort  or  another. 
None  was  more  sumptuous  or  extravagant  than 
the  palace  of  the  Princess  Henkel-Donnersmark." 

—55— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Her  career  was  romantic,  her  presence  glorious, 
her  extravagance  indescribable.  Millions  were  lav- 
ished upon  the  artistic  and  elaborate  interior  of  her 
home.     It  was  truly  gorgeous. 

Princess  Henkel-Donnersmark  was  formerly 
Madame  de  Paiva.  She  was  Polish,  tall,  with  real 
blue-black  hair,  and  those  wonderful  liquid  brown- 
black  eyes,  very  large  and  luminous.  She  was  dis- 
tinctly Oriental  in  type,  and  being  conscious  of  the 
power  of  her  eyes,  she  painted  blue  circles  around 
them,  and  inspired  them  with  belladonna,  which 
gave  them  a  lustre  that  held  one  spellbound.  Her 
ideas  were  barbaric,  but  she  was  always  gowned  to 
perfection.  Being  Oriental  in  taste,  she  wore  won- 
derful jewels.  Her  rubies,  emeralds  and  sapphires 
reminded  one  of  the  glories  of  Cleopatra.  She 
usually  wore  trailing  robes,  and  as  her  movements 
were  serpentine,  she  was  christened  in  Paris  the 
"Cobra."  Her  star  of  fortune  had  not  always 
been  brilliant.  The  early  years  of  her  life  had 
been  somewhat  mysterious.  The  story  was  told 
of  her  that  when  she  first  came  to  Paris  she 
was  so  poor  that  she  was  literally  starving.  On 
the  very  ground  where  she  built  her  sumptuous 
home  on  the  Champs  £lysee,  she  had  been  found 
sitting  one  day  upon  a  little  wooden  bench,  hungry 
—56— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

and  forlorn.  The  Prince  Charming  of  her  career, 
a  gentleman,  approached  her  and  charitably 
offered  her  his  protection  and  a  meal.  Her  rise  in 
the  world  became  notorious,  because  she  was  fa- 
mous for  an  extravagance  that  rivalled  that  of  the 
Byzantine  Empresses. 

I  have  visited  her  home,  which  contained  gor- 
geous mosaics,  and  was  built  of  marble.  It  was 
filled  with  the  most  wonderful  pictures  and  works 
of  art.  It  was  rumoured  in  Paris  that  she  was  the 
political  agent  of  one  of  the  most  influential  Em- 
pires. How  true  this  was,  no  one  knew.  The 
Malachite  marble  staircase,  the  bathroom  lined  with 
real  lace  over  gold  and  turquoise,  her  bedroom  and 
boudoir,  sumptuously  furnished  with  Smyrna  car- 
pets and  Kurdistan  rugs,  gave  these  rooms  an  im- 
pression of  a  harem.  There  was  neither  a  chair  nor 
a  sofa  anywhere  in  them,  only  the  most  beautiful 
cushions  of  all  tints  of  the  rainbow,  placed  around 
low  tabourets.  The  rooms  were  in  perpetual  arti- 
ficial light  of  a  rose  and  mauve  coloured  shade.  The 
effect  of  all  this  weird  atmosphere  of  course  en- 
hanced the  beauty  of  this  gorgeous  woman.  When 
I  knew  her,  she  had  long  passed  her  zenith,  yet  she 
still  ruled  her  husband  with  an  iron  hand  and  many 
friends  besides.     This  magnificent  home  of  hers  in 

—57— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Paris   was  subsequently    sold,   and    became   .'i    very 

smart,  restaurant,  but  without  much  success. 

The  first  time  the  Princess  I  [enkel-Donners- 
mark  received  me  was  in  a  sort  of  Lounge-room  ad- 
joining her  bath.  The  Princess  was  wearing  a 
gown  jis  diaphanous  as  cobweb;  she  gave  the  Im- 
pression <>('  Venus  rising  from  her  bath  in  draperies 
of  trailing  loam.  Her  bath  itself  was  a  revela- 
tion, [nstead  of  the  usual  pool,  there  was  a  font 
or  huge  vase  of  clearest  crystal  hound  with  copper, 
studded  wiih  turquoise.  The  water  which  poured 
from  this  font  was  perfumed,  and  in  this  huge  vase 

Of  perfumed  Water  the  Princess  would  sit  Cor  hours, 
while  in  three  corners  around  her  weir  j^'old  chal- 
ices also  sel.  with  turquoise  in  which  burned  in- 
censes of  India.      'There  were  a  succession  of  baths, 

Turkish,  Russian  and  others,    or  course,  I   was 

overcome  with  the  magnificence  of  her  surround- 
ings.    Although  it  was  real,  I  had  to  pinch  myself 

to  be  Convinced  thai  the  Princess,  when  she  ad- 
dressed me  in  Polish,  was  really  8  modern  human 
beiiiLT.      Her  manner  was   very  autocratic. 

"(),  (bar,"  she  said,  "please  call  my  valet  and  my 
maid." 

1  was  told  it  was  her  custom  to  receive  the  mem- 
bers o\'  the  diplomatic  Corps  in  Paris,  the  celebrated 
—58— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

Bohemians,  the  artists  of  France,  in  a  similar 
diaphanous  gown.  My  conversation  with  her  was 
confined,  however,  to  the  burning  question  of  the 
day,— -the  Princess'  new  gowns.  It  is  interesting 
to  recall  what  we  decided  upon.  One  dress  was  of 
scarlet  Lyons  velvet,  trimmed  with  chinchilla,  and 
a  cloak  to  match.  This  was  an  afternoon  dress. 
Another  was  an  evening  gown  of  Duchess  satin, 

embroidered  with  jet  and  gold  intermingled  with 

pearls,  and  trimmed  with  marten  fur  tails.  Her 
mantle  was  of  Peruvian  chinchilla  trimmed  with 
Russian  ermine. 

She  sleeps,-  forgiven  let  us  hope, — this  modern 
Aspasia  and  Magdalen.  I  [er  house  is  now  a  dress- 
maker's establishment,  being  transferred  from  a 
temple  of  love  to  a  temple  of  fashion. 

Kmil  Zola's  novel  of  'Nana"  may  be  almost  for- 
gotten to-day,  but  in  its  lime  it  was  a  very  faithful 

picture  of  one  of  the  beauties  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire. I  knew  this  beautiful  woman  who  was  the 
original  inspiration  of  the  great  French  author  for 
this  character.  She  was  very  graceful,  tall, 
blonde,  by  name  Blanche  I'Oeil  Crcvce.  She  was 
tremendously  admired,  so  much  so  that  she  had 
very  little  time  for  her  art,  because  she  was  such  a 
vogue.      She  understood  the  joy  of  living  as  Pari- 

—59— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

sians  understood  it  then.  The  dinner  parties  she 
gave  at  the  Cafe  Anglais,  surrounded  by  men  who 
laid  their  fortunes,  but  not  their  names,  at  her  feet, 
were  celebrated.  She  did  not  seem  to  care  much 
for  their  names,  or  for  themselves  for  that 
matter,  as  long  as  she  could  sup,  and  dine, 
and  dress.  She  was  a  goddess  of  pleasure,  and  her 
life  was  one  perpetual  round  of  emotion.  She 
flashed  upon  the  life  of  Paris  like  a  comet,  and  like 
a  comet  she  went.  Zola  alone  immortalised  her 
idealism. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  Teresa,  the  woman  with 
the  man's  voice,  the  most  famous  contralto  of  her 
time,  puzzled  me  very  much  as  a  dressmaker.  Her 
favourite  colours  were  pale  blue  and  green,  and  she 
always  wanted  the  richest  satins  if  possible.  Her 
decolletage  was  outrageous,  but  she  was  a  great 
Alcazar  favourite  in  Paris.  I  think  she  still  lives 
the  simple  life,  on  a  chicken  farm.  From  the  sub- 
lime to  the  ridiculous  is  only  a  step.  Teresa  was, 
as  one  great  artist  described  her  to  me,  the  most 
fascinating,  but  the  most  intensely  vulgar  person- 
ality, of  the  French  stage.  She  was  as  celebrated 
and  popular  in  Paris  as  Nellie  Farren  was  in  Lon- 
don. 

She  was  of  a  type  of  stage  beauty  who  led  the 
—60— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

young,  unsophisticated  aristocracy  to  worship  at 
her  shrine,  without  fear,  but  with  many  reproaches. 
The  Due  D'Aumale  was  an  enormous  admirer  of 
hers,  and  the  little  cafe  near  St.  Cloud  was  an  ador- 
able retreat. 

Who  will  forget  that  delightful  mimic,  Judic, 
who  startled  Paris  in  her  famous  bathing  costume, 
escorted  by  the  jovial  Baron,  as  her  bathing -mas- 
ter. She  was  unique  in  her  toilettes,  which  were 
indeed  very  daring,  and  yet  never  crude  or  vulgar. 
Judic  began  as  a  variety  singer  at  the  Eldorado; 
suddenly  she  blossomed  forth  one  day  as  a  prima 
donna  in  opera  at  the  Theatre  Varietee  on  the 
Boulevard  de  Montmartre.  She  sang  very  well, 
but  her  vivacity,  and  her  more  than  decollete  songs, 
created  an  immense  furore.  Judic  was  dark,  of 
the  Oriental  type,  inclined  to  be  stout.  She  wore 
skirts  as  short  as  possible,  inviting  the  crowd  to 
"come  and  see  more  of  me." 

Most  of  the  French  actresses  aped  the  style  and 
manners  of  the  grandes  dames.  This  was  cleverly 
satirised  in  one  of  Offenbach's  opera  bouffes  called 
"La  Vie  Parisienne." 

But,  Paris  in  1867  outrivalled  every  other  city  in 
the  world,  in  pleasure,  in  wit,  in  toilettes. 

A  bal  masque  given  at  the  Grand  Opera  House 

—61— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

in  Paris  just  before  the  war  of  1870,  was  the  final 
whirl  of  this  maddening  Paris  before  the  shadows 
settled  over  her.  I  remember  a  famous  Russian 
Grand  Duchess  who  appeared  in  the  costume  of 
"Sappho."  When  it  came  time  for  her  to  leave 
her  box,  which  had  been  continually  surrounded  by 
a  curious  crowd,  it  was  necessary  to  call  the  police 
to  make  room  for  her  to  pass  out, — to  allow  Venus 
to  go  home. 

These  recollections  of  Paris  at  this  time  are 
so  full  of  interesting  people  and  events,  that  we 
were  obliged  to  run  away  from  it  to  recuperate. 
So,  the  winter  of  1868  found  myself  and  my  hus- 
band installed  in  a  villa  at  Monte  Carlo,  the  para- 
dise or  inferno  of  Europe,  whichever  you  care  to 
make  it. 

It  was  at  Monte  Carlo  I  met  the  beautiful 
American  girl,  Fanny  Lear.  Her  affair  with  an 
Imperial  Grand  Duke  was  an  international  scan- 
dal. The  superb  pearls,  rubies  and  sapphires 
which  were  showered  upon  her  by  the  Grand  Duke, 
were  discovered  afterwards  to  be  the  personal  jew- 
els of  his  royal  mother,  for  which  little  lapse  of  eti- 
quette he  was  exiled  from  the  Czar's  domain  for  a 
long  time.  The  Grand  Duke's  influence  evidently 
left  its  impression  upon  Fanny  Lear  after  their 
—62— 


BARONESS  DE  RAMELM   AND   HER   DAUGHTERS   AT  THE   SWEDISH    EMBASSY 
The    Swedish    ladies    of    the    Court,    Countess    Lewenhaupt    and    the    Baroness 
de    Ramelm,    charming,    modest    ladies,    gowned    in    perfect    taste,    who    accom- 
plished a  renovation  in  social  matters  in   England. 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

separation,  for  her  gowns  were  always  purely  Rus- 
sian in  style,  heavily  trimmed  with  jewels  and  em- 
broidery, which  greatly  enriched  her  peculiar  Ori- 
ental beauty.  I  am  not  sure  whether  originally 
she  came  from  Philadelphia  or  from  one  of  those 
charming  cities  in  the  Southern  states.  She  had 
beautiful  eyes,  glorious  hair  of  a  nut-brown  shade, 
and  teeth  like  pearls,  but  when  showing  them  in  a 
ravishing  smile,  one  saw  a  rather  cruel  and  cynical 
mouth.  She  was  intelligent  far  above  the  average. 
Our  conversation,  which  usually  began  on  the  ab- 
sorbing topic  of  woman's  gowns,  drifted  along  to 
beauty,  poetry,  wit,  till  it  was  time  to  say  "good 
night."  I  remember  meeting  her  at  a  grand  recep- 
tion given  by  one  of  our  celebrated  actresses,  in  a 
gown  that  no  one  could  ever  forget.  It  was  an 
opal-coloured  royal  satin,  profoundly  trimmed  with 
Borano  lace,  a  corsage  covered  with  real  opals,  and 
strings  of  black  pearls,  to  complete  this  ravishing 
toilette.  Her  cloak  was  a  regal  wrap  of  Russian 
sable,  entirely  trimmed  with  rose  miroire  velvet. 
Sumptuous  in  every  way  were  these  women  of  the 
last  century,  and  they  did  not  seem  to  care  whether 
it  was  their  own  money  or  some  one  else's.  It  was 
the  age  of  vampires  in  a  measure,  and  many  of 
them,  alas,  finished  badly. 

^-63— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

In  Paris  we  met,  one  evening  at  supper,  that 
wonderful  artiste,,  Princess  Marie  Eristoff ,  Mounet 
Sully  and  the  Prince,  and  many  other  celebrities. 
The  Princess  took  a  fancy  to  me,  and  made  quite 
a  lovely  crayon  drawing  of  me.  She  was  wonder- 
fully quick,  and  in  three  hours  I  took  this  spon- 
taneous memento  back  to  my  hotel.  She  was  ex- 
tremely lovely,  with  ashen  blonde  hair,  and  very 
slender,  eyes  like  chameleon,  always  changing,  a 
voice  like  a  rippling  fall  of  water,  perfectly  modu- 
lated and  a  trifle  sad.  In  after  years  we  met  by 
chance  through  a  mutual  acquaintance,  a  Brazilian 
beauty,  Parola  de  Paranguay,  and  so  renewed  an 
old  friendship.  Princess  Marie  Eristoff  came  to 
London  and  painted  my  portrait  life  size.  Every 
one  who  saw  it  pronounced  it  a  perfect  likeness  al- 
though perhaps  it  is  a  little  idealistic  and  futuris- 
tique  in  influence.  She  exhibited  it  at  the  Waldorf 
with  some  others  of  her  works,  portraits  of  Prince 
George  of  Servia,  Sacha  Votischenkow,  the  great 
Russian  Tymphan  artist,  a  Russian  dancer,  and 
others.  I  hear  she  is  now  in  great  demand,  and  is 
painting  the  portraits  of  many  of  the  brothers,  sons 
and  sweethearts,  in  khaki,  for  those  loved  ones  left 
behind,  and  that  most  of  her  fees  are  turned  over  at 
once  to  charity,  which  is  like  her  generous  heart. 
—64— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

Her  atelier  in  Paris  was  often  filled  with  Russian 
grand  dukes  and  duchesses  from  the  embassy,  who 
like  the  flavour  of  Bohemia.  And  we  used  to  drink 
coffee  from  an  earthen  Roman  pitcher,  and  eat 
black  bread  with  butter  from  a  broken  earthenware 
saucer.  Spellbound  we  would  listen  to  the  weird 
music  of  the  Tymphan,  and  one  of  her  favourites, 
that  Sacha  was  often  called  upon  to  play,  was  an 
imaginary  storm  on  the  Volga.  Sacha,  too,  is  now 
in  this  country,  and  only  before  his  departure  from 
England  he  had  the  honour  of  playing  before  Queen 
Alexandra,  Grand  Duchess  Marie  and  the  Prin- 
cess Victoria.  When  I  recall  the  days  of  these  fa- 
mous men  and  women,  notorious  perhaps  too  often, 
one  wonders  that  the  twentieth  century  is  so  void  of 
all  these  perpetual,  piquant  incidents.  We  have 
progressed  indeed,  but  have  we  perhaps  not  dete- 
riorated, too,  in  some  things. 

The  enchantress  of  the  Second  Empire  was,  in  a 
primitive  sense,  less  regardless  than  the  modern 
"flapper,"  who  so  mysteriously  defies  us.  The 
Court  romances  of  the  Second  Empire  were  dis- 
tinctly more  humane  and  graceful  than  those  of  a 
later  Court,  across  the  sea  from  France. 

Napoleon  III  had  a  streak  of  vulgarity,  a  taint 
of  the  cad  in  him.     It  often  happens  that  men  who 

—65— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

are  able  in  warfare  and  diplomacy,  in  their  dealings 
with  women  are  unpardonable.  He  lacked  the 
gift  of  reticence  towards  his  affairs  with  women. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  disreputable  than 
the  sordid  and  cruel  delight  in  the  tone  with  which 
he  discusses  his  opportunities  of  escape  from  serious 

responsibilities  with  Madame  R ,  a  lady  of  his 

Court.  She  had  been  persona  grata  with  the  Im- 
perial family,  the  confidante  of  the  Empress,  and 
the  victim  of  all  the  grievances  that  Her  Imperial 
Majesty  could  imagine.  Sometimes  the  ladies  of 
the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire  pursued  a  thought 
of  unavoidable  feeling  of  justice  towards  the  beau- 
tiful Empress  Eugenie.  That  is  to  say,  they  ac- 
cepted the  presents  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  and 
kept  faith  in  vital  things  with  the  Empress. 

The  story  is  told  of  the  famous  Madame  de 

P ,  who  was  greatly  admired  by  the  Emperor, 

that  she  was  invited  by  him  to  the  Tuileries  Palace 
to  inspect  the  royal  apartment.  When  the  Em- 
peror led  her  to  the  bedroom  of  the  Empress,  she 
turned  to  His  Imperial  Majesty  and  gracefully 
disarmed  him. 

"I  cannot  admire  fully,"  she  said,  "the  exquisite 
conveniences  of  this  room  in  the  absence  of  Her 
Majesty,  the  chief  ornament." 
—66— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

Napoleon  had  no  adequate  reply  to  such  adroit- 
ness, and  so  he  sent  a  gentleman  to  the  Empress, 
requesting  her  to  come  at  once  and  acknowledge 
her  indebtedness  to  Madame  de  P . 

That  was  Napoleon  III  in  his  best  romantic 
mood.  It  was  not  always  the  attitude  of  Madame 
de  P.,  however.  She  managed  to  amass  many  val- 
uable jewels,  and  to  hide  them  from  her  husband. 
Napoleon's  attraction  towards  her  was  not  irresisti- 
ble, because  he  had  little  personal  charm,  but  Ma- 
dame de  P.  could  not  be  entirely  blind  to  the  mate- 
rial advantages  gained  by  an  affair  with  the  Em- 
peror. It  is  recorded  that  she  gave  her  affection 
and  fidelity  to  her  Imperial  mistress,  the  Empress. 
As  a  woman,  inevitably  subject  to  flattery,  Ma- 
dame de  P.  was  no  doubt  pleased  by  the  romantic 
homage  of  Napoleon.  The  heart  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie  was  no  doubt  disturbed  with  bitterness 
that  comes  to  the  woman  who  is  childless,  her  ambi- 
tion also  may  have  inspired  her  with  a  desire  for  an 
heir  apparent.  These  are  merely  observations  of 
analysis,  without  actual  fact  in  history.  Commen- 
tators of  her  time  accused  her  of  being  lethargic, 
others  believed  that  she  was  unwilling.  No  one 
has  solved  the  mystery  of  how  she  spent  her  quiet 
moments. 

—67— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Strive  as  we  will,  to  study  the  inner  character  of 
the  Empress  Eugenie  from  the  many  portraits,  we 
cannot  decide  whether  she  was  happy  or  unhappy. 
Those  portraits  of  her,  made  in  the  earlier  years 
of  her  reign,  give  a  very  benign  expression.  There 
is  a  great  change  in  those  portraits  taken  of  her  dur- 
ing the  years  when  she  was  in  her  zenith,  when  the 
obsessions  of  power  had  brought  a  slight  cynical 
weariness,  to  mark  her  features.  Were  the  eyes  of 
the  Empress  cynical  ?  In  these  portraits  of  her  fa- 
mous years,  they  are  full  and  open,  looking  with  an 
air  of  tolerable  candour  on  the  world,  yet  with  an 
expression  in  her  elevated  eyebrows,  of  question. 
In  the  later  portraits,  owing  perhaps  to  the  fashion 
of  the  sidelong,  averted  gaze  and  exaggerated  roug- 
ing, to  the  portrait  painter's  custom  of  giving  beau- 
tiful women  the  delicate,  tapering  hands,  we  must 
perhaps  allow  for  the  artistic  convention  of  the  pe- 
riod, yet,  these  portraits  speak  clearly  for  the  nerv- 
ous refinement  of  this  wonderful  woman. 

She  moved  amidst  the  dramatis  personce  in- 
scrutably. She  was  especially  inscrutable  to  the 
unscrupulous  politician,  that  genius,  that  pictur- 
esque personality,  streaked  with  facts  which  one 
encounters  in  human  nature  as  one  does  in  geologi- 
cal formations.  Those  who  feared  her  hated  her, 
—68— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

and  their  hatred,  bred  of  common  minds,  was  a 
greater  homage  to  her  than  their  love.  She  was 
always  hopeful  of  any  episode  which  might  provide 
a  clue  to  some  new  intrigue  of  the  court.  She  was 
complex,  ardent,  facing  the  future  with  some  defi- 
nite plan  that  she  did  not  declare. 

The  satirical  wits  of  the  Court,  unable  to  pene- 
trate her  motive,  described  her  as  an  emotional  lob- 
ster salad.  There  were  many  in  the  Court  of  the 
Second  Empire,  however,  with  fine  personalities, 
who,  like  Her  Imperial  Majesty,  moved  untouched 
amid  the  evil  of  that  Empire.  Napoleon's  amours 
were  treated  with  mild,  yet  jealous  intolerance  by 
his  consort.  Mild,  chiefly  because,  though  these  epi- 
sodes were  picturesquely  brilliant,  they  were  hol- 
low. 

The  Princess  Pauline  Metternich  retained  her 
beauty  and  her  wit  after  sixty  years  of  coquetry 
and  social  reign.  She  was  not  so  beautiful  but  she 
was  sprightly,  gay,  full  of  character  and  electric 
charm. 

The  Princess  de  S.  was  really  beautiful,  with  her 
fair  hair  and  complexion,  and  rounded  figure.  The 
beauty  of  her  face  was  almost  angelic,  she  had 
pearl-white  skin,  blue  eyes,  and  her  hah'  looked  like 
gold,  cooled  in  moonlight.     Such  was  the  princess 

—69— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

in  her  early  youth.  Her  intellectual  brilliancy  in- 
volved her  in  politics,  for  it  was  at  her  house  that 
those  famous  parties  were  held  which  were  regarded 
with  so  much  disfavour  by  the  legitimist  faction.  It 
is  stated  that  she  secretly  married  a  brilliant  roue, 
to  legitimize  her  amatory  discrepancies.  It  was 
noticeable  that  the  Emperor  treated  her  with  far 
more  reserve  and  respect  than  he  generally  ac- 
corded to  the  ladies  whose  society  he  frequented. 
She  frequently  drove  out  in  public  with  the  Imperial 
couple,  and  when  she  left  France  for  Spain  they 
accompanied  her.  When  she  died,  it  caused  great 
distress  to  every  one,  and  especially  to  myself,  due 
to  the  honour  which  she  had  extended  to  me  on  my 
arrival  at  Court.  Besides  her  many  other  perfec- 
tions which  made  her  admirable,  she  possessed  that 
one  of  being  a  loyal  friend. 

"I  shall  revere  her  memory  and  mourn  her  all 
my  days,"  were  the  words  of  the  Empress  Eugenie 
when  the  Princess  de  S.  died. 

As  the  old  harem  days  of  Napoleon's  reign  pass 
from  our  vision,  there  is  a  unique  fact  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  some  of  the  men  who  surrounded  him  had 
such  a  horror  of  impropriety  that  it  is  surprising 
they  should  have  been  there  at  all.  However, 
Napoleon  III  was  always  scrupulously  correct  in 

—70— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

good  manners.  Still,  the  liberty  and  licence  of  the 
Court  invite  the  curious  question  as  to  which  of 
these  men  who  were  so  insistent  for  the  proprieties, 
was  the  greatest  fraud. 

There  is  a  piquant  story  told  of  a  certain  Court 
lady,  a  Spanish  beauty,  who  in  every  detail  of  fem- 
inine perfection  seriously  rivalled  the  Empress 
Eugenie.  Many  at  Court  hated  her,  for  she  inter- 
fered quite  seriously  with  their  own  affairs  with 
the  Emperor.  It  was  generally  admitted  that  his 
sentiments  towards  this  lady  were  very  sincere,  so 
much  so,  that  he  carried  her  letters  constantly  with 
him. 

By  a  conspiracy  of  the  Empress  and  her  Court 
ladies,  she  was  finally  entirely  frightened  away 
from  the  Court  balls.  It  was  a  very  simple  plan. 
Whenever  she  arrived,  looking  radiantly  beautiful, 
the  Court  ladies  would  get  around  her  and  tell  her 
how  ill  she  was  looking,  until  being  convinced  that 
she  was  not  looking  her  best,  she  would  run  out  of 
the  salon  before  the  Emperor  could  see  her,  entirely 
duped  by  the  mischief  of  these  Court  ladies. 

One  of  the  really  daring  beauties  of  the  Court  of 
the  Second  Empire  was  Madame  d'Elboeuf.  She 
was  not  very  tall,  but  striking,  and  she  exacted  ad- 
miration, awaited  love  at  every  turn.     Her  fore- 

—71— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

head  needed  no  device  of  curls,  her  lips  were  rather 
too  thin,  but  her  teeth  were  beautiful,  and  she  was 
regarded  by  able  sculptors  as  a  figure  worthy  of 
classical  beauty  to  rank  with  the  creations  of  the 
sculptors  of  Rome  and  Greece.  She  was  brazenly 
intolerant  of  virtue  in  other  women,  which  she  re- 
garded as  improbable  and  perhaps  impossible. 

I  must  give  a  passing  word  to  two  women,  who, 
though  not  in  the  Court  circles,  were  so  famous  for 
their  beauty,  their  mental  vivacity  and  promiscu- 
ous adventures,  as  to  be  typical  of  the  women  of 
the  Second  Empire.     They  were  both  respectably 

born.     Blanche  d'l ,  one  of  these  women,  was 

the  daughter  of  a  man  of  the  world  and  a  distinctly 
pious  mother.  Brown-eyed,  laughter  loving,  yet 
not  suggestive  of  mere  bubbling  mirth,  she  always 
had  a  rather  severe,  haughty  expression.  She  had 
many  adorers,  shared  many  intrigues.  Her  con- 
temporary, Anne  Delyon,  was  a  being  of  inferior 
calibre.  She  was  much  admired  by  the  Duke  de 
Morny.  She  would  accept  gifts  of  any  sort, 
clothes,  bric-a-brac,  anything  that  had  value,  and 
she  talked  with  pride  of  the  important  men  who 
had  supplied  them.  She  frequently  visited  a  cer- 
tain Grand  Duke,  dressed  as  a  page,  and  displayed 
his  costly  gifts  with  much  self-congratulation.  The 
—72— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

partner  of  her  earlier  aberrations  was  a  decadent 
poet  of  the  Second  Empire,  whom  she  really  loved. 
But  then,  she  really  loved  only  seven  men  after  all, 
so  she  averred  in  the  recital  of  her  book,  "Libre 
Amoris." 

The  names  of  these  two  women  were  chronicled 
among  the  Court  babblers  of  the  Imperial  era. 

On  every  page  of  record  in  gallantry,  in  intrigue 
or  diplomatic  episodes  of  this  period,  one  will  find 
some  allusion  to  the  brilliant  Princess  R.,  with  a 
man's  intellect  diverted  by  a  woman's  caprice.  She 
was  ever  beguiling,  even  in  her  most  indifferent 
moments.  Her  husband,  the  prince,  though  stern 
in  appearance,  looked  on  at  her  affairs  with  the 
admiration  one  may  feel  for  the  gambols  of  a  lovely 
kitten,  but  who  became  adamant  when  he  found 
that  she  was  interfering  with  the  serious  affairs  of 
state.  Her  sprightly  activities  made  the  dull  at- 
mosphere of  other  neglected  Court  ladies  brighter. 
Her  attachment  to  her  various  beaux  outlived 
many  vicissitudes,  and  the  princess,  in  a  way  that 
was  careless  and  self-seeking,  did  her  best.  Per- 
haps, after  all,  she  only  used  her  powers  to  form  a 
cover  for  her  own  romances.  Her  affair  with  the 
English  Duke  of  H.  was  only  a  blind,  for  the 
princess  favoured  her  English  lover,  so  they  say,  and 

—73— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

dared  almost  everything.  When  visiting  a  certain 
country  house,  the  prince  wished  her  to  leave  with 
him  but  she  refused.  She  was  not  herself  quite 
sure  of  her  hospitality,  but  she  did  not  wish  to  give 
the  world  the  impression  that  her  only  home  was 
her  husband's. 

She  was  often  on  the  brink  of  disgrace  but  al- 
ways escaped.  In  her  resplendent  womanhood  she 
captivated  every  one.  After  the  fall  of  the  Empire 
she  was  implicated  in  some  clandestine  correspon- 
dence with  the  Empress.  In  these  letters  she  in- 
formed Her  Imperial  Majesty  that  a  certain  Arch- 
bishop would  do  anything  for  her,  if  she  favoured 
him.  It  was  not  discovered  that  the  prelate  was 
really  deeply  in  the  toils  of  the  enchantress,  but  he 
did  provide  her  means  to  get  out  of  France. 
Dressed  as  a  man,  she  set  off  with  a  couple  of 
horsemen  as  her  sole  escorts,  but  in  her  usual  casual 
fashion  left  the  evidence  of  her  guilt  behind.  She 
was  provided  with  ample  means  by  an  acquaintance 
whom  she  did  not  betray,  for  it  might  have  been 
fatal  to  her  incognito  until  she  reached  the  frontier. 
She  sent  her  lover  a  colossal  sum,  and  promised  him 
that  when  she  died  he  should  have  her  jewels.  She 
had  many  adventures  in  Holland  and  Germany. 
It  is  said  that  on  one  of  these  expeditions,  she 
—74— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

stopped  at  an  inn  in  her  man's  disguise  and  slept 
on  the  floor  with  other  men,  undisturbed.  The 
next  morning  she  left  a  note  for  the  stupefied  land- 
lord, which  informed  him  that  a  princess  had  slept 
in  his  house. 

I  cannot  leave  this  fascinating  element  of  coque- 
try of  the  Second  Empire  without  again  referring 
to  that  delicate  beauty,  Madame  de  Gallifet.  She 
will  go  down  into  history  as  a  woman  who  in  spite 
of  her  eagerness  for  life  and  all  its  enchantment, 
never  was  known  to  say  an  evil  thing  of  any  one. 
She  is  one  of  the  rare  figures  in  the  picturesque  tap- 
estry of  time.  When  she  was  a  girl  it  was  said 
that  she  knelt  at  the  altar,  praying  that  she  might 
some  night  go  to  Court.  She  obtained  her  wish, 
she  was  enrolled  as  Maid  of  Honour,  and  it  was  on 
this  occasion  that  her  future  husband  saw  her.  He 
was  a  stiff  and  formal  lover.  For  a  long  while  he 
went  no  further  than  to  express  himself  in  flowery 
speech,  and  the  dear  girl  began  to  feel  that  she 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  him  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  being  bored.  I  have  good  cause  to  be- 
lieve that  she  found  great  happiness  in  her  married 
life. 

That  famous  picture  by  Winterhalter,  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  surrounded  by  her  group  of  fair 

—75— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

women,  is  typical  of  the  Second  Empire.  It  was 
so  famous,  that  in  after  years  proofs  of  it  were  sold 
for  over  a  hundred  thousand  francs.  I  believe  the 
original  is  in  the  Louvre. 

Shortly  after  the  war  trumpet  had  sounded  the 
call  of  duty,  and  the  fall  of  the  Second  Empire  had 
occurred,  I  was  crossing  on  a  channel  steamer  from 
Folkestone  to  Boulogne.  The  boat  was  extremely 
crowded  and  I  had  to  stand  up.  A  lady  in  deep 
mourning  passed  me.  There  was  another  lady 
with  her,  who,  I  later  found  out,  was  Madame  de 
Faucourt.  Both  ladies,  like  myself,  were  wedged 
in  so  tightly,  that  they  could  not  move.  A  sailor 
boy  brought  me  a  wooden  stool,  and  the  lady  in 
deep  mourning  looked  so  longingly  at  it,  that  I 
quite  unconsciously  asked  her  to  divide  the  seat 
with  me.  So  for  a  little  while  we  sat  back  to  back. 
Presently  she  said  to  me  in  French: 

"Madame,  do  you  know  a  dance  called  the  quad- 
rille?" 

"Yes,"  I  said,  and  she  half  jestingly  added  that 
we  were  executing  a  figure  of  the  quadrille. 

Of  course,  later  I  learned  it  was  the  Empress, 

and  I  recalled  to  her  the  name  of  my  aunt,  whom 

she  had  known  so  well  in  her  glorious  days,  and  we 

chatted.     When  we  arrived  at  Boulogne,  the  Em- 

—76— 


COURT  BEAUTIES— SECOND  EMPIRE 

press  got  up,  and  as  we  bowed  to  each  other  she 
lifted  her  veil,  then  I  bowed  again  and  courtesied, 
and  thanked  her  for  the  pleasant  crossing,  and  she 
graciously  extended  me  her  hand,  which  I  kissed. 
We  went  different  ways,  for  I  was  going  to  Monte 
Carlo  to  meet  my  late  husband,  and  she  was  going 
to  Cap  Martin,  where  she  had  a  lovely  villa. 

I  also  met  her  later  in  those  sublime  shady  walks 
on  the  Mediterranean.  Between  those  olive  and 
almond  trees  she  would  come  slowly  along,  leaning 
rather  heavily  upon  her  stick,  accompanied  by  her 
friend,  the  Duke  de  Bassano. 


-77— 


CHAPTER  II 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  QUEEN  VICTORIA 

I  shall  never  forget  the  dignity  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria. It  was  most  remarkable,  because  in  stature 
and  figure  Her  Majesty  was  by  no  means  regal. 
There  was  an  invulnerable  air  about  her,  a  supreme 
consciousness  of  her  royal  person,  that  every  one 
felt  in  her  presence.  I  had  the  honour  of  meeting 
her  many  times,  and  I  always  marvelled  at  the  mys- 
terious atmosphere  of  royal  identity  which  seemed 
to  enfold  the  rather  short,  stout,  plain  little  lady, 
who  was  England's  wisest  and  most  gracious 
Queen.  She  had  the  most  perfect  arms  and  hands 
of  any  woman  I  ever  saw.  Perhaps  knowing  this, 
she  always  wore  beautiful  gold  bracelets,  one  of 
them  bearing  her  late  husband's  miniature.  On 
the  other  was  an  enormous  cameo.  Queen  Vic- 
toria never  adopted  the  style  of  her  period  of  wear- 
ing bones  in  her  bodice.  In  later  years  she  used  to 
wear  one-piece  gowns  made  by  the  silk  mercers,  al- 
ways especially  woven  for  her  at  Spittlefields.  She 
—78— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

was  perhaps  the  one  Queen  in  Europe  who  never 
bought,  or  had  made  for  her  in  the  way  of  dress 
anything  that  was  not  English  and  ultra-conserva- 
tive. All  her  gowns  had  long  trains,  and  since  the 
demise  of  the  Prince  Consort,  her  husband,  she  al- 
ways wore  black.  I  can  only  remember  that  on 
one  or  two  occasions  she  relieved  this  sombre  attire 
with  a  white  plume,  or  a  bunch  of  lilacs  in  her  bon- 
net.    Yet,  she  was  every  inch  a  Queen. 

They  did  not  study  the  form  divine  in  1830. 
Perhaps  they  didn't  care  to  accentuate  the  curves 
and  lines  of  the  women  of  that  period.  At  any  rate, 
they  dressed  themselves  like  nice  sofa  cushions,  hid 
their  beauty  of  face  in  coal  scuttle  bonnets  and  huge 
shovel  hats.  The  early  Victorian  toilettes  in  respect 
of  decolletage,  were  perhaps  not  over-modest,  still 
there  were  occasional  restraints. 

There  was  a  strenuous  effort  in  the  Victorian 
Era,  to  establish  the  idea  that  there  were  none  but 
honest  women  in  England  at  that  time.  This  im- 
pulse was  inspired  entirely  by  Queen  Victoria  her- 
self, whose  delicate,  fastidious  taste  looked  with 
horror  upon  any  compromising  act,  not  because  of 
its  indiscretion,  but  because  it  indicated  a  common 
mind.  This  may  have  been  a  chill  of  temperament 
which  Her  Majesty  inherited.     I  am  told  that  in 

—79— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

her  youth  she  possessed  a  charm  over  all  men  who 
approached  her  that  they  could  not  ignore.  After 
attracting  them  first  by  her  youth  and  loveliness, 
she  held  their  attention  and  admiration  by  her 
many  remarkable  qualities  of  conversation,  of  wit 
and  brilliancy.  When,  however,  any  man  at- 
tempted to  cross  the  slender  barrier  which  separates 
the  courtier  from  the  outspoken  admirer,  they 
found  her  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  ice,  impalpable, 
but  impassible.  The  court  ladies  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria's early  years  were  often  filled  with  jealous 
envy  towards  the  Queen.  These  women  created 
some  gossip  but  in  spite  of  all  they  said,  it  is  an 
indisputable  fact  that  at  no  instant  of  her  life  was 
Queen  Victoria's  conduct  anything  but  a  transpar- 
ent record  of  virtue. 

Once  only,  it  is  said,  did  a  man  forget  the  respect 
due  to  his  sovereign,  and  in  fact  to  his  own  honour, 
as  to  yield  to  the  temptation  of  acknowledging  a 
devoted  passion  for  the  Queen.  On  this  account, 
for  a  long  time,  the  Duke  of  M.  was  banished  from 
the  Court.  The  story  itself,  I  believe,  was  related 
by  him. 

It  was  on  the  night  of  a  state  ball,  just  after  the 
Queen  had  been  crowned,  and  being  fatigued  by  the 
heat  and  glare  of  the  drawing-rooms.  Her  Majesty 
—80— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

stepped  out  upon  the  terrace,  illumined  by  the  chaste 
radiance  of  a  full  moon.  She  was  accompanied  by 
the  young  Duchess  of  Bedford,  who  had  been  one  of 
her  bridesmaids.  The  Queen,  clad  from  head  to 
foot  in  snowy  laces,  with  great  emeralds  gleaming 
on  her  white  neck  and  in  the  masses  of  her  beau- 
tiful hair,  moved  slowly  up  and  down,  close  to  the 
marble  balustrade  of  the  terrace.  She  was  talk- 
ing to  her  companion,  in  that  melodious,  low  voice, 
which  always  had  something  so  marvellously  capti- 
vating about  it.  Presently  she  reached  a  secluded 
and  shadowy  corner  of  a  long,  rose-bowered  walk, 
when  suddenly,  from  beneath  the  trees,  the  Duke 

of  M stepped  out.     It  was  evident  from  his 

manner  that  he  had  lost  all  control  of  his  feelings. 
He  cast  himself  at  Her  Majesty's  feet  and  then 
and  there  confessed  his  earnest  devotion.  In  the 
torrent  of  his  eloquence,  his  unconsidered  words 
were  beyond  all  pardon.  It  is  said  that  he  clung 
to  her  skirts,  his  eyes  sparkling  like  fire,  his  whole 
frame  shaken  with  fierce  emotion. 

Her  Majesty  shook  herself  free,  stared  at  him  in 
amazement,  then  drew  herself  up  and  looked  upon 
him  as  if  he  were  some  infuriated  animal  she  wished 
to  subdue.  His  Grace  saw  at  once  that  she  was  im- 
placably offended.     It  was  probably  the  first  and 

—81— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

the  last  time  in  her  life  that  any  one  had  ever  pre- 
sumed to  insult  her. 

"How  dare  you!"  she  exclaimed,  almost  choking 
with  fury.  The  Duke  pursued  his  mad  declara- 
tion, and  of  course  found  himself  talking  at  last  to 
the  empty  air,  for  the  Queen  moved  away  rapidly 
and  re-entered  the  castle  by  a  side  door,  leaving  him 
blinded  by  his  own  emotions.  It  is  said  that  he 
wandered  around  the  gardens  of  Windsor  Castle 
most  of  the  night. 

Nothing  annoyed  the  Queen  so  much  in  her 
earlier  years  as  to  appear  in  public,  to  be  stared  at 
by  the  struggling  crowds  who  tried  to  get  as  close 
to  her  as  possible.  To  the  common  people  her  pe- 
culiar style  of  beauty  was  not  comprehensible,  it 
was  a  kind  which  had  nothing  gross  or  ordinary 
about  it.  Her  wonderful  ivory-like  complexion, 
her  erect,  dignified  bearing,  were  utterly  for- 
eign to  the  popular  expectations  in  England  of  a 
Queen,  and  yet,  no  Queen  on  any  throne  of  Europe 
ever  deserved  more  credit  for  queenly  dignity,  not 
only  of  outward  form,  but  also  of  inward  charac- 
ter, than  Queen  Victoria. 

Her  one  fault,  perhaps,  was  a  perfectly  natural 
jealousy  of  her  Consort,  Prince  Albert.  The  early 
years  of  Her  Majesty's  marriage  were  shockingly 
—82— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

unhappy,  and  when  a  woman  is  unhappy  she  is 
never  wise.  But  England  received  the  joyful  tid- 
ings that  Queen  Victoria  had  been  blessed  with  a 
son,  Albert  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales.  With  the 
birth  of  this  princelet  all  the  bells  of  England  rang 
out  joyously,  bonfires  illuminated  the  landscape, 
and  there  began  for  Queen  Victoria  a  long  reign 
of  unalloyed  happiness,  into  which  the  yellow  mon- 
ster of  jealousy  never  again  intruded. 

One  could  write  volumes  of  the  period  during 
which  the  wonderful  children  of  Queen  Victoria 
were  growing  up  to  inherit  their  difficult  destinies. 
Queen  Victoria  saw  many  sorrows  come  to  these 
children,  and  sustained  them  with  her  quiet 
strength.  Her  daughter,  the  Princess  Royal,  who 
married  Kaiser  Friedrich,  endured  the  same  sor- 
rows of  widowhood  as  her  mother,  when  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany  died.  With  all  her  children 
happily  settled  she  spent  the  few  remaining  years 
of  her  widowhood  in  seclusion,  the  Kaiser  and 
Prince  Henry  being  her  only  surviving  sons. 

Queen  Victoria's  widowhood  was  particularly 
peaceful  and  remote  from  public  appearances.  She 
lived  an  ideal  life  with  her  widowed  daughter, 
Princess  Beatrice  of  Battenberg,  partly  in  Bal- 
moral, partly  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.     Princess  Bea- 

—83— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

trice  was  created  a  governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
and  both  she  and  her  mother  were  adored  by  the 
people  of  this  delightful  place.  The  royal  house- 
hold was  managed  perhaps  rather  strictly,  puri- 
tanically, but  this  did  not  affect  the  Battenberg 
children.  They  romped  and  played  as  other  chil- 
dren, and  their  royal  grandma  was  very  human, 
very  indulgent. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked  if  the  Batten- 
berg menage  was  a  happy  one.  It  is  still  a  query. 
At  any  rate,  the  Prince  went  away,  and  rumour 
said,  it  was  because  the  Princess  Beatrice  had  in- 
herited much  of  her  mother's  characteristic  jeal- 
ousy. The  Prince  was  an  extraordinarily  handsome 
man.  Like  all  the  Battenbergs,  he  had  inherited 
from  a  morganatic  mother,  who  was  a  rarely  beau- 
tiful Jewess,  much  of  her  good  looks  and  her  intelli- 
gence. All  the  Battenbergs  married  well,  for  they 
were  very  popular  and  charming  princes. 

The  first  time  I  met  Queen  Victoria  personally, 
I  was  summoned  to  Windsor  Castle  to  be  con- 
sulted concerning  a  new  dress  for  Princess  Bea- 
trice. Of  course,  I  went,  and  on  my  arrival  found 
that  the  late  Duchess  of  Roxborough,  at  that  time 
Mistress  of  the  Robes,  had  spoken  of  me  to  Prin- 
cess Beatrice.  Imagine  my  surprise  when  I  was 
—84— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

informed  that  I  was  to  make  a  purple  velvet  toi- 
lette for  the  young  princess.  Velvet,  for  one  so 
young!  It  seemed  very  peculiar  to  me;  however, 
I  had  to  obey  the  royal  command. 

On  my  arrival  at  Windsor  Castle,  I  was  ushered 
into  the  royal  boudoir.  I  particularly  remember 
that,  prominently  displayed  in  the  room,  was  a  por- 
trait of  the  late  Prince  Imperial,  surrounded  with 
great  bunches  of  violets.  Perhaps  if  he  had  lived 
an  entente  cordiale  might  have  existed  in  the  long 
ago. 

It  was  during  this  first  visit  to  Windsor  Castle 
that  I  was  initiated  into  the  strict  etiquette  of  the 
royal  household.  It  was  of  course  necessary  for 
me,  in  my  capacity  as  dressmaker,  to  stand  side  by 
side  with  Princess  Beatrice.  During  my  entire 
visit,  however,  Her  Royal  Highness  never  ad- 
dressed me  directly;  she  spoke  to  me,  but  in  the 
third  person.  Her  personal  dresser  was  present, 
by  name  Morgan. 

The  princess  would  say  to  her  dresser,  for  in- 
stance : 

"Morgan,  I  should  like  you,  please,  to  tell  Ma- 
dame Frederic  that  I  want  my  jacket  and  skirt  very 
ample." 

My  reply,  of  course,  was  made  to  Miss  Morgan, 

—85— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

but  addressed  to  the  princess.  This,  I  believe,  is 
the  formal  way  of  addressing  exalted  persons  of 
royalty,  even  if  they  speak  to  you  directly. 

The  purple  velvet  gown  was  made,  trimmed 
with  some  glorious  Russian  sable,  and  successfully 
worn  by  Her  Royal  Highness.  Princess  Beatrice 
was  at  this  time  rather  good  looking.  She  was 
of  the  buxom  type  of  beauty,  to  be  sure,  but  she  had 
a  very  charming  smile,  quantities  of  ash-blonde 
hair,  good  teeth,  and  a  rather  distingue  air.  She 
walked  very  gracefully.  Her  marriage  to  the  late 
Prince  Battenberg  was,  of  course,  an  absolute  love- 
match,  and  his  early  death  upon  foreign  shores 
marred  her  happiness.  She  lost  one  of  her  favourite 
sons  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  Her  daughter^ 
however,  is  the  Queen  of  Spain,  and  her  grand- 
children are  much  solace  to  her. 

At  the  time  I  visited  Windsor,  Princess  Beatrice 
had  not  yet  married,  for  in  her  heart  there  was  still 
the  image  of  that  importunate  Prince  Napoleon 
(Lulu) ,  whose  untimely  death  in  Zululand  was  still 
fresh  in  the  memory  of  all  who  had  known  him  and 
loved  him.  Princess  Beatrice  never  entirely  lost 
the  tender  regard  for  this  real  romance  of  her  life. 
It  was  always  violets,  the  emblem  of  the  Napoleonic 
family,  which  adorned  her  boudoir.  And  yet,  the 
—86— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

closest  ties  of  Princess  Beatrice  were  naturally 
German. 

Her  daughter,  the  Queen  of  Spain,  is  German 
on  her  father's  side.  Alphonso,  the  King  of  Spain, 
is  Austrian  on  his  mother's  side.  In  fact,  there  is 
not  a  single  royal  family  in  Europe  that  has  not  the 
blood  of  Germany  somewhere  in  their  veins.  A 
glance  at  this  relationship  is  worth  while. 

For  instance,  the  Czarina  of  Russia  was  a  Prin- 
cess of  Hesse  Darmstadt.  The  Queen  of  Belgium 
is  the  daughter  of  a  Bavarian  prince.  The  King 
of  Roumania  is  a  direct  descendant  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns.  The  Queen  of  Roumania  is  the  grand- 
daughter of  the  late  Queen  Victoria.  The  Queen 
of  Greece  is  the  daughter  of  Kaiser  Friedrich,  an- 
other granddaughter  of  Queen  Victoria,  whose 
mother  was  the  late  Duchess  of  Connaught,  daugh- 
ter of  the  Red  Prince  Friedrich  Carl  of  Prussia. 
The  Queen  of  Holland  is  the  daughter  of  the 
Duchess  of  Wied,  her  husband  is  the  Grand  Duke 
of  Mecklenburg- Schwerin. 

The  royal  servants  of  Windsor  Castle  during  the 
latter  part  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign  were  nearly 
all  Germans.  Her  personal  maid,  who  was  with  her 
for  nearly  forty  years,  came  from  a  little  hamlet 
in  the  Black  Forest.     Of  course,  there  were  a  few 

—87— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Scotch  servants  who  surrounded  Her  Majesty. 
The  tradespeople  of  the  neighbourhood  used  to  de- 
light to  go  to  Windsor  Castle  because  they  were 
always  royally  treated.  Carriages  were  sent  to 
meet  them  at  the  station,  and  luncheon  was  served 
to  them  by  powdered  footmen. 

Eating  and  drinking  had  always  been  one  of  the 
national  amusements  of  Great  Britain,  and  there- 
fore I  was  not  surprised  to  find  at  Windsor  Cas- 
tle the  most  valuable  gold  table  service  in  the  world. 
It  was  valued  at  one  million  pounds  sterling,  and  is 
a  historical  and  stupendous  work  of  the  goldsmith's 
art.  It  consists  of  huge  gold  salvers,  upon  which 
were  dozens  and  dozens  of  gold  platters,  and  in- 
cludes great  gold  drinking  cups,  gold  soup  tureens, 
gold  dishes  for  roasts,  and  two  enormous  dishes 
big  enough  to  carry  the  famous  English  boar's 
head.  It  was  a  barbaric  memento  of  Great  Brit- 
ain's devotion  to  the  feast.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  gorgeousness  of  that  million  pound  gold  service, 
designed  and  preserved  for  kings  only. 

The  whole  royal  household  was  brought  up  like  a 
large  well-conducted  family,  and  Queen  Victoria, 
as  the  integral  part  of  a  great  nation's  honour,  was 
faithful  to  her  trust,  to  the  traditions  of  her  an- 
cestry. 

—88— 


*l  ^ 


LADY    WINIFRED    RENSHAW 

Lady  Winifred  Renshaw,  gifted,  tall,  very  haughty  and  verj  commanding, 
elder  daughter  of  the  Countess  of  Seitrim,  commissioned  the  author  to  make 
her   trousseau. 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

The  latter  part  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign  was 
spent  almost  entirely  apart  from  her  official  obli- 
gations. She  was  very  fond  of  San  Remo  in  Italy. 
She  loved  the  Mediterranean,  and  spent  part  of 
every  year  there.  She  became  enamoured  with 
Cimez.  Her  daily  plans  of  life  were  always  beau- 
tifully arranged.  She  was  evidently  a  woman  of 
deep  and  sweet  attachment.  When  first  married, 
her  love  for  the  Prince  Consort  was  always  quite 
obvious.  There  was  a  yearning  for  his  affection, 
which  is  a  sentiment  wholly  outside  the  instinct  of 
passion,  and  I  believe  in  after  years  that  the  mem- 
ory of  this  tenderness  often  thrilled  her  heart  anew. 

Queen  Victoria  was  a  religious  woman,  not  in  the 
outward  noisy  manner  of  the  bigot,  but  sincerely 
devoted  to  the  High  Church  of  England,  and  her 
charity  toward  those  who  recognised  the  love  in 
their  homes  that  she  enjoyed  with  her  husband  and 
her  children,  was  proverbial.  The  greatest  bond 
between  the  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort  was 
music.  Pie  was  devoted  to  Schumann,  and  Queen 
Victoria  loved  the  piano.  He  played  very  well, 
and  it  is  said  that  by  accident  Her  Majesty  discov- 
ered this,  when  she  found  him  alone  one  day,  play- 
ing the  "Traumerei."  The  discovery  that  he  pos- 
sessed this  talent  gave  her  wonderful  pleasure,  and 

—89— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

it  was  then  she  begged  him  to  play  Chopin  to  her. 

Their  love  was  really  ideal.  They  often  walked 
on  the  narrow  edge  of  the  beach,  below  the  rocky 
cliffs  near  Balmoral  Castle.  Unseen  and  unat- 
tended, they  would  re-discover  maritime  plants  in 
the  shallow  water.  All  sorts  of  things  they  col- 
lected in  this  way,  and  brought  them  home  to  show 
the  children.  It  would  take  a  much  cleverer  pen 
than  mine  to  do  justice  to  this  idyl,  to  the  unselfish 
devotion  which  Queen  Victoria  gave  her  husband 
and  her  family.  She  found  the  greatest  comfort 
in  her  role  as  a  ministering  angel  to  those  who  suf- 
fered. She  would  personally  visit  the  poor,  espe- 
cially the  old  people  in  the  cottages,  and  her  dig- 
nity and  manner,  her  kindness  at  heart,  and  her 
loftiness  of  purpose  simply  amazed  her  people.  She 
was  greatly  blessed  for  her  nursery  was  completely 
filled,  and  all  her  children,  from  their  tenderest 
babyhood,  were  brought  up  in  a  love  for  the  open 
air,  and  for  the  influences  of  nature. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  was  the  most  interesting 
child,  headstrong,  generous,  plucky,  and  at  the 
same  time  extraordinarily  tender-hearted.  His 
boyish,  resolute  air  and  his  charming  manner  made 
him  a  universal  favourite.  He  was  very  affectionate 
—90— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

and  sensitive,  and  he  was  well  trained  in  bodily  ex- 
ercise. 

Those  wonderful  gatherings  in  the  sheltered  gar- 
dens at  Windsor  Castle,  where  Queen  Victoria 
would  sit,  surrounded  in  later  years  by  her  grand- 
children! She  was  especially  fond  of  Princess 
Christian,  whose  husband,  a  Schleswig-Holstein, 
lost  an  eye  through  an  accidental  shooting  in  Wind- 
sor Forest.  The  two  sons  of  Princess  Christian 
are  fighting  brother  against  brother.  One  fights 
for  Germany,  and  the  other  for  England.  Prin- 
cess Louise,  the  wife  of  the  late  Duke  of  Argyle, 
had  the  most  beauty  of  any  of  Queen  Victoria's 
children. 

I  remember  once  being  permitted  to  peep  into 
Her  Majesty's  studio,  or  boudoir,  at  Windsor  Cas- 
tle. It  was  an  oval-shaped  room,  hung  with  old 
Flemish  lace.  There  was  a  fine  collection  of  su- 
perb old  Chelsea  and  Dresden  china.  Pine  logs 
were  smouldering  lazily  in  an  open  fireplace,  and 
there  were  natural  flowers  everywhere.  I  remem- 
ber distinctly  a  very  old  clock  that  stood  solemnly 
in  a  corner,  where  it  had  been  placed  since  it  came 
from  the  Black  Forest.  On  the  walls  were  pic- 
tures by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Turner,  Hopner, 
and   the   adjoining   conservatory   was   filled   with 

—91— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

camellias,  gardenias,  ferns,  and  orchids.  From  this 
distance  which  separates  that  era  of  peace  and 
splendour  in  Great  Britain  to  the  present  atmos- 
phere charged  with  all  the  horrors  that  civilisation 
can  endure,  one  wonders  what  Queen  Victoria 
would  say  were  she  to  return  to  the  barbaric  vision 
of  the  world  as  it  is  to-day. 

Above  all  things,  Her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria 
loved  poetry,  and  the  satirical  Heine  was  a  great 
favourite  of  hers.  I  heard  through  a  very  intimate 
friend  that  her  favourite  poem  was  Heine's  "The 
Two  Grenadiers."  She  helped  the  unfortunate 
unconditionally,  and  personally  consoled  them  just 
as  she  did  her  own  family.  It  was  her  custom  often 
to  go  unaccompanied,  perhaps  with  only  one  ser- 
vant, into  the  squalid  cottages  of  Scotland.  She 
usually  chose  the  sunset  hour  for  these  trips,  carry- 
ing flowers  and  fruit  to  those  who  were  sick.  She 
always  found  some  encouraging,  cheering  words  of 
hope  and  sympathy,  unrestricted  by  any  religious 
exaggeration  of  preaching. 

On  one  occasion  the  Queen  came  upon  a  rough 
Scotch  miner,  dragging  a  woman  by  the  hair,  and 
kicking  her  vigorously  with  his  hob-nailed  boots. 
Unmindful  of  herself,  she  started  beating  the  man 
with  her  umbrella  with  such  vigour,  in  the  face,  that 
—92— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

in  his  amazement  he  stopped,  and  stared  at  Her 
Majesty.  The  woman  resented  her  interference, 
and  demanded  why  she  did  so.  The  Queen  an- 
swered by  giving  them  a  couple  of  sovereigns. 

"Beat  her,  my  friend,  beat  her  all  she  wants,  she 
certainly  deserves  it  for  being  so  loyal  to  you,"  said 
Her  Majesty.  j 

The  land  which  Her  Majesty  enjoyed  above  all 
was  the  Riviera.  Summer  and  winter  the  Riviera 
is  a  world  of  flowers.  The  climate  is  so  mild  that 
there  are  wild  stalks  blooming  in  the  crevices  of 
those  old  walls.  Upon  all  the  windowsills  of  those 
crazy  little  houses  one  sees  all  year  round  pots  of 
basilica,  geranium  and  fuchsias.  The  fields  are 
abloom  with  almond-scented  white  szerazin  and 
crimson  clover.  I  can  almost  smell  the  heath  of 
purple  and  brown,  now.  Those  were  the  days  of 
chivalry,  when  there  was  a  charm  indescribably  sin- 
cere. How  tasteless  and  tame  seems  this  twentieth 
century  of  ours,  compared  to  it. 

The  great  climax  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign  was 
the  war  in  South  Africa,  it  was  her  death  knell. 

She  was  very  fond  of  going  about  incognito,  and 
on  one  occasion,  while  staying  at  Scarborough,  a 
Yorkshire  seaside  resort,  she  met  some  very  charm- 
ing people  who  did  not  know  she  was  a  Queen. 

—93— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

While  standing  on  the  beach,  a  sailor  came  up  to 
her  and  her  party. 

"Will  you  have  a  row,  ma'am,  only  six  pence  an 
hour?"  he  said. 

"Why,  of  course  we  will,"  said  Her  Majesty, 
and  they  all  embarked  in  a  little  rowboat.  Being 
a  Tar  of  the  old  fashioned  kind,  of  course,  he  took 
this  opportunity  to  "spin  a  yarn,"  and  this  was  it: 

"Ladies,  did  yer  notice  that  little  old  house  on 
the  beach?"  he  asked,  and  when  Her  Majesty  said 
yes,  he  told  the  following  story : 

"It  was  to  that  wery  house  that  a  strange  woman 
went  once  to  see  the  owner,  who  was  a  poor,  bed- 
ridden old  man. 

"  'Are  you  Tom  Smith?'  she  asked. 

"  'Yes,'  he  said. 

"  'Then  get  up  and  try  to  follow  me.  I  bring 
you  from  the  far  East  a  box,  filled  with  treasures, 
with  gold,  with  all  the  jewels  that  the  crown  ever 
held,  and  the  whole  top  of  the  box  is  filled  with  the 
sovereigns  of  our  dear,  precious  little  Queen  Vic- 
toria." 

He  paused,  so  that  the  wonder  if  the  story  could 
sink  in,  then  he  said  rather  roughly: 

"I  wish  I  could  meet  the  lassie,  I  would  ha'  gi'n 
her  a  real  smack  in  the  mouth." 
—94— 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

The  Queen  raised  her  hand  very  gently,  and  said 
to  him:  "Will  this  hand  do,  for  I  am  Queen  Vic- 
toria?" 

She  was  a  Queen  of  grace,  of  soulful  considera- 
tion and  kindness.  Pageantry,  pomp  and  cere- 
mony she  did  not  like,  and  when  she  consented  to 
wear  all  the  insignia  of  her  lofty  rank,  her  presence 
was  not  improved  by  the  priceless  display  of  jewels, 
for  the  precious  stones  themselves  seemed  to  gather 
their  magnificence  and  their  loveliness  from  being 
in  contact  with  her. 

Her  political  ideas  were  extremely  broad.  She 
used  to  say  that  every  one  believed  a  republican 
form  of  government  was  the  best. 

I  remember  seeing  Her  Majesty  at  one  very  im- 
portant Court  function,  when  she  was  wearing  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  Court  dresses  I  ever  saw.  It 
was  of  light  blue  moire  with  an  entire  overdress  of 
spun  gold  tulle,  held  from  the  shoulders  by  clus- 
ters of  real  roses.  Her  head-dress  was  a  sort  of 
coronet  of  pink  pearls,  sapphires  and  diamonds. 
She  wore  a  fan-shaped  bodice.  The  endless,  fan- 
shaped  train  and  bodice  of  this  period  were  of  the 
softest,  shimmering  tulle,  embroidered  with  pearl- 
hearted  Parma  violets.  She  wore  a  mantle  of  the 
finest   gauze,    powdered    with    jet.     Around   her 

—95— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

shapely  neck  hung  row  after  row  of  softly  gleaming 
black  pearls  and  black  diamonds  interspersed  with 
brilliants.  In  her  hand  she  carried  a  marabout  fan, 
adorned  with  her  crown  in  diamonds. 

On  this  occasion  Her  Majesty  was  in  a  very 
amiable  mood,  smiling  and  conversing  graciously 
with  every  one.  She  looked  so  youthful  that  her 
contemporaries  could  easily  have  been  taken  for 
her  seniors  by  many  years.  After  the  usual  Court 
presentations  were  over,  tea  was  served  in  a  large 
supper  room  for  Their  Majesties  and  their  immedi- 
ate followers,  while  other  guests  took  supper  in  ad- 
joining drawing-rooms.  By  midnight  all  was  over. 
Her  Majesty  did  not  like  late  hours,  that  is  why  her 
wonderful  complexion  never  required  any  cos- 
metics. 

Cold  water  m  her  tub  before  retiring,  a  glass  of 
hot  milk,  were  the  preliminaries  of  Her  Royal 
sleep.  She  was  a  very  early  riser,  and  as  soon  as 
she  awoke  she  had  a  cup  of  tea,  a  few  slices  of  but- 
tered toast,  and  some  fruit.  Her  life  was  simple, 
unostentatious,  beautiful. 


-96— 


CHAPTER  III 

ROYAL  GAMBLERS  AND  THEIR  AMOURS 

The  clatter  of  gold,  the  sparkle  of  jewels,  and 
woman,  create  those  extraordinary  places  of  pic- 
turesque but  violent  elements  of  human  nature 
called  gambling  centres.  There  were  two  famous 
ones  in  Europe  in  my  youth,  one  was  in  Homburg, 
conducted  by  the  celebrated  Monsieur  Blanc,  the 
other  was  in  Monte  Carlo. 

The  time  when  Homburg  was  at  its  best  was  in 
the  autumn,  but  it  was  in  the  summer  of  1867  that 
I  with  all  the  world  went  to  that  picturesque  place, 
Taunus,  where  were  united  the  social  and  scanda- 
lous men  and  women  of  Europe.  The  gambling 
salons  here,  which  were  run  by  M.  Blanc,  were 
magnificently  decorated.  He  spent  a  fortune  cre- 
ating an  impression  in  these  rooms  that  you  had 
entered  a  feudal  castle  of  a  former  period.  A  won- 
derful collection  of  famous  old  masters  covered  the 
walls. 

No  better  symbol  of  the  ruling  passion  could 

—97— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

have  been  conceived  than  that  complete  facade  of 
full  length  mirrors  which  greeted  you  at  the  en- 
trance to  these  rooms.  You  could  see  yourself 
there  in  your  full  glory,  and  others  could  see  you, 
so  that  you  could  be  bewitchingly  and  enthusiasti- 
cally admired.  And  yet  one  could  hardly  get  close 
enough  to  these  mirrors  to  have  one's  own  reflection 
complete,  they  were  so  arranged.  M.  Blanc,  as  I 
remember  him,  was  a  little  round-faced  French- 
man, with  a  pointed  beard.  He  was  an  educated 
man,  a  widower,  whose  two  daughters  married 
brilliantly,  and  whose  granddaughter  married  the 
son  of  the  King  of  Greece.  He  was  rather  fond 
of  the  ladies,  and  frequently  when  he  saw  them 
lose  he  would  offer  them  his  cheque,  whispering  to 
them,  "Continue,  continue." 

Of  course,  one  entered  these  rooms  with  a  cer- 
tainty of  feeling  that  you  would  leave  them  pos- 
sessing the  treasures  of  Golconda. 

The  gaming  tables  opened  at  11  A.  M.,  and  were 
always  covered  with  gold  louis.  The  struggle  in 
the  crowd  was  to  procure  a  seat  as  near  as  possible 
to  the  head  croupier.  The  gold  itself  was  brought 
up  in  huge  bags  from  the  vaults.  These  bags  were 
guarded  by  two  or  three  employees  of  the  bank,  who 
carefully  watched  their  discharge  upon  the  table, 
—98— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

where  the  gold  and  bank  notes  were  deposited.  The 
game  itself  was  roulette.  Each  croupier  had  a  small 
shovel  before  him,  with  which  to  handle  the  gold 
and  the  notes.  Every  two  hours  these  men  were 
relieved  from  duty.  The  head  croupier  sat  upon  a 
chair,  considerably  elevated  from  the  rest,  keeping 
a  sharp  eye  upon  any  errors  in  payment,  whether 
too  little  or  too  much,  to  the  players.  The  lowest 
sum  one  could  risk  at  the  roulette  was  five  francs. 
The  two  men  who  were  internationally  notorious 
as  celebrated  gamblers  in  the  sixties  were  Prince 
Paul  Demidoff  and  Garcia.  The  latter  broke  the 
bank  of  Monte  Carlo  once,  and  at  Homburg  and 
Wiesbaden  twice.  There  was  always  a  crowd  sur- 
rounding these  men,  a  curious  mob,  seeking  to  fol- 
low their  luck.  The  conditions  and  surroundings 
of  these  places  were  indescribably  feverish  and  un- 
reasonable. While  all  conditions  of  society  could 
be  found  at  these  places,  there  was  a  predominance 
of  those  types  that  belonged  to  Babylon  of  old. 
The  entrances  were  thronged,  and  many  of  the 
beautiful  women  were  not  irreproachable.  Love 
was  in  the  air,  and  these  radiant  charmers  were 
royally  paid  by  the  managers  of  M.  Blanc  to  at- 
tract, to  ensnare  men  to  become  mad,  which  is  never 
a  very  difficult  thing  to  do.    I  recall  some  of  these 

—99— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

women,  those  who  represented  predominant  types. 
There  was  Baruchi,  whose  type  of  beauty  com- 
pletely overpowered  the  heir  to  the  throne  of  Hol- 
land. He  was  called  Prince  Citron,  and  himself 
was  a  famous  lady-killer,  a  distinguished  rake  of  his 
time.  He  spent  millions  where  others  spent  pen- 
nies. His  sumptuous  apartments  in  Paris  were 
famous  as  representing  the  last  word  in  extrava- 
gance. It  is  said  that  he  presented  Baruchi  with 
a  string  of  pearls  which  must  have  cost  over  half 
a  million  dollars.  Her  bosom  friend  Soubise  was 
the  opposite  type  of  beauty  from  Baruchi,  who  was 
dark,  luxuriously  oriental.  Soubise  was  blonde,  and 
therefore  the  contrast  of  their  individual  and  su- 
preme beauty  made  them  intimate  friends.  I  re- 
member an  incident,  which  illustrates  the  power  of 
beauty  at  the  gaming  tables.  Madame  Soubise  had 
been  playing  for  some  time,  and  having  lost  every 
penny  she  possessed,  was  about  to  leave,  when  a 
certain  prince  of  the  old  aristocracy  of  France 
turned  to  the  croupier  and  said,  "Madame  is  good 
for  twenty-five  thousand  francs,  please  go  on."  I 
especially  remember  her  purse,  which  was  a  tri- 
umph of  the  goldsmith's  art.  It  was  a  huge  gold 
shell,  deeply  set  with  Brazilian  diamonds  of  the 
purest  colour.  On  one  side  was  the  coat  of  arms 
—100— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

of  emeralds  and  topaz.  The  purse  hung  on  a  chain 
attached  to  her  girdle,  which,  according  to  the 
fashion  of  the  time,  was  made  of  Persian  turquoise 
and  Siberian  rubies.  The  girdle  and  the  purse  were 
valued  by  a  famous  jeweller  in  Paris  at  seven  hun- 
dred thousand  francs.  She  always  dressed  magnifi- 
cently, creating  a  slender  silhouette,  with  her  long, 
trailing  skirts  gracefully  draped  about  her.  She 
was  a  singularly  graceful  creature  with  dreamy 
green  eyes.  She  looked  like  one  of  those  pictures 
painted  by  Marckhardt.  She  reigned  supreme  in 
her  world,  and  her  entertainments  were  attend- 
ed by  all  the  great  aristocrats  of  the  period. 
Her  hotel  was  very  wonderful  and  was  beauti- 
fully decorated.  She  was  a  woman  of  fine  taste, 
and  her  home  was  one  of  the  show  places  in 
Paris.  It  is  interesting  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
setting  in  which  this  feminine  jewel  lived  for  so 
long. 

Her  bedroom  represented  an  Indian  temple  of 
Buddha.  There  were  no  chairs  visible.  The  room 
was  furnished  with  wonderful  Kurdistan  and 
Smyrna  carpets.  Her  parquet  floor  was  cov- 
ered with  Indian  shawls.  Her  tapestries  were 
Gobelins  and  Beauvais.  Appropriately  or  not, 
they    represented    biblical    scenes,    such    touching 

—101— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

episodes  as  Joseph  being  sold  by  his  brethren, 
Moses  in  the  Bulrushes,  the  drowning  of 
the  Egyptians  and  many  fine  reproductions  of 
Hogarth. 

Her  boudoir  was  in  turquoise  velvet,  the  hangings 
of  Pointe  de  Flanders,  attached  with  huge  cords  and 
tassels,  festooning  the  draperies,  which  hung  in 
folds  to  the  bottom  of  the  floor.  The  floor  itself 
was  inlaid  with  arabesque  of  Malachite  mosaics. 
The  door  knobs  were  of  sterling  silver.  When  her 
bric-a-brac  was  sold,  it  brought  over  five  million 
francs. 

She  was  very  charitable  but  she  treated  her  ad- 
mirers with  very  little  consideration.  Mammon 
really  meant  nothing  to  her,  for  she  ignored  the 
wonderful  men  who  had  showered  countless  jewels 
upon  her  when  she  met  a  penniless  young  man  who 
was  a  croupier  at  Homburg,  with  whom  she  eloped. 

The  dominating  figures  of  these  gambling  rooms, 
however,  were  Paul  Demidoff  and  the  great  gam- 
bler Garcia.  They  were  the  Neros  of  the  Goddess 
of  Fortune.  They  did  not  fiddle,  but  they  whis- 
tled, and  all  that  was  corrupt  in  society  was  held 
spellbound.  They  threw  showers  of  gold  and  notes 
at  the  women  they  admired,  who  fluttered  around 
them,  like  moths  in  the  glare.  The  hilarity  of  the 
—102— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

life  during  the  gambling  season  was  sustained  by 
Count  Caroli  and  Prince  Esterhazy. 

The  atmosphere  of  the  salons  de  jeu  was  over- 
perfumed  perhaps,  but  it  was  a  hot-house  of  arti- 
ficial flowers  in  human  form,  brilliantly  illuminated 
by  the  huge  crystal  chandeliers  of  the  period  of 
Louis  XV.  It  was  a  crowd  gone  mad  with  de- 
sire for  gold  at  any  price,  and  the  study  of  their 
faces  in  the  midst  of  these  miserable  ambitions  was 
often  ghastly.  I  think  it  is  generally  known  that 
the  Russians  are  the  most  regardless  and  extrava- 
gant gamblers,  and  so  these  gaming  tables  were 
usually  surrounded  by  grand  dukes  and  their  beau- 
tiful followers. 

I  remember  particularly  a  striking  figure,  the 
Princess  Yourowska.  She  was  always  attended  by 
her  footman  in  gorgeous  livery,  who  stood  behind 
her  jauteuil,  holding  a  case  of  Louis  d'ors.  She 
would  frequently  reach  behind  her,  without  looking, 
into  this  case,  and  place  her  bets.  She  dipped  so 
frequently  into  this  gold,  that  the  case  was  some- 
times quickly  emptied.  She  was  a  good  loser,  and 
M.  Blanc  a  big  winner.  She  was  not  the  only 
woman  tempted  solely  by  the  thrills  of  inexhaustible 
chance,  there  was  always  that  beautiful  Russian, 
the  Princess  Souvaroff,  who,  with  her  commanding 

—103— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

figure,  all  could  see  was  an  enthusiastic  gambler. 
Like  all  the  Russians  and  the  Poles,  they  loved  to 
gamble.  It  was  really  an  inspiring  sight,  to  see  the 
absolute  calm  with  which  the  Grand  Dukes  Alexis 
and  Nicholas  would  take  their  places  behind  the 
table,  stake  the  maximum,  walk  away,  and  when 
the  croupiers,  in  their  soulless,  nasal  voices,  lazily 
pronounced  the  fate  of  others  in  the  usual  phrase, 
"Rien  ne  va  plus,"  their  Imperial  Highnesses  would 
leisurely  either  pick  up  their  games,  or  withdraw 
calmly  to  begin  again. 

There  were  many  famous  women,  of  course,  who 
perhaps  were  better  gamblers  than  the  men,  be- 
cause, while  they  but  lighted  the  fires  to  consume 
others,  they  were  themselves  of  the  asbestos  quality. 
It  seems  to  me  that  this  particular  type  of  woman 
has  rather  disappeared  from  the  world  of  to-day, 
and  therefore  we  can  look  upon  her  at  this  distance, 
with  the  analytical  audacity  of  curious  observers. 
There  comes  to  my  mind  a  woman  who  excessively 
and  completely  represents  the  type — Cora  Pearl. 
As  to  beauty,  as  to  the  arts  of  love,  as  to  her  knowl- 
edge which  contact  with  the  world  in  its  most  com- 
plex relations  had  given  her,  she  was  supreme.  Her 
worldliness  made  her  a  prime  favourite.  In  her 
men  saw  all  their  longings,  she  depicted  the  com- 
—104— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

plete  living  identity  of  the  woman  of  their  dreams. 
Every  man  has  some  such  woman,  but  he  rarely 
meets  her.  She  was  a  woman  who  took  extreme 
pains  to  study  the  art  of  deception.  It  is  said  she 
would  stand  before  the  mirror,  practising  fond 
glances,  developing  the  magic  of  her  eyes. 

For  the  heroes  of  her  amours  she  had  no  sym- 
pathy, but  she  would  pretend  to  listen  to  them,  with- 
out a  tremor  in  her  heart.  Some  people  called  her 
beauty  diabolical,  if  there  is  such  a  thing.  I  do  not 
believe  that  beauty  of  any  sort  can,  in  its  original 
birthright,  have  anything  but  a  divine  purpose, 
though  it  is  often  diabolically  managed. 

Cora  Pearl  was  accused  of  being  a  supremely 
gifted  actress  of  heroine's  parts,  off  the  stage.  Un- 
questionably her  beauty  was  of  the  kind  that  lifts 
men's  souls  above  all  tenderness.  I  recall  almost 
verbatim  a  confession  she  made  to  me  once,  and 
I  quote  it  here  because  it  is  a  rare  document  of  hu- 
man heartlessness.  She  had  the  strength  of  the 
weak,  which  in  women  is  a  fascinating  study  in 
morals. 

When  Armand  Duval,  the  son  of  the  famous  res- 
taurateur, being  rejected  by  Cora  Pearl,  shot  him- 
self one  night  in  front  of  her  door,  she  made  this 
extraordinary  exclamation : 

—105— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

"I  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  be  anything  but  a 
courtesan,  people  may  call  me  what  they  like.  I 
follow  my  own  inclinations,  I  take  my  own  road.  I 
was  born  to  take  what  I  can  get.  There  have  been 
some  agreeable  things  in  my  life,  such  as  spend- 
ing a  fortune  in  two  years.  I  always  knew,  of 
course,  that  I  was  irresistible, — I  knew  that  I  was 
a  vampire.  I  knew  that  I  adored  the  golden  calf, 
and  it  mattered  little  to  me  who  worshipped  me,  or 
where,  so  long  as  I  could  shine.  My  greatest  treas- 
ure was  my  marble  skin,  which  I  kept  like  ivory. 
I  knew  that  the  man  I  favoured  took  much  pride 
in  his  imaginary  success.  He  became  a  Paragon  in 
the  club." 

She  was  a  modern  Cleopatra,  her  idea  of  life  be- 
ing that  she  would  have  accomplished  her  destiny 
when  she  had  perpetuated  the  name  of  one  of  the 
most  noble  courtesans. 

She  had  a  particular  weakness  for  princes,  and 
usually  talked  marriage.  Of  course,  she  only  pre- 
tended, everything  she  did  was  sham,  she  had  no 
desire  for  any  sincerity,  but  she  was  desirous  of  be- 
coming a  princess  of  the  House  of  Orange.  She 
preferred,  of  course,  princes  who  were  bachelors  or 
widowers,  and  she  pursued  also  married  nobles  who 
were  in  a  fair  way  to  become  widowers.  Many  of 
—106— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

the  men  she  selected  were  strangers  whom  she  had 
never  seen,  and  among  them  several  who  had  never 
thought  of  her,  and  who  never  did  think  of  her. 
Part  of  her  creed  in  the  religion  of  love  was  that 
she  should  never  be  adored  by  a  man  below  the  rank 
of  prince.  That  is  why,  perhaps,  she  survived  the 
tragedy  of  Armand  Duval's  suicide,  that  was  the 
reason  for  her  disdainful  rejection  of  his  love.  She 
accepted  the  idea  of  love  in  the  abstract,  repudiat- 
ing the  idea  of  true  love,  because  she  was  logical  to 
her  destiny.  She  was  strong-minded,  and  fully 
realized  the  danger  of  permitting  her  heart  to  inter- 
fere. Her  portrait  hangs  in  a  celebrated  gallery, 
where  spectators  of  all  kinds,  including  the  clergy, 
collect  and  meditate,  and  linger,  to  admire.  The 
strong  will  of  a  beautiful  woman  can  defeat  un- 
natural influences,  and  knowing  this,  she  made  no 
hypocritical  attempt  to  hide  her  character. 

She  died  in  abject  misery,  asking  alms  of  those 
men  whom  she  had  spurned  in  her  early  days.  She 
grew  tired  of  grovelling  like  a  worm  in  the  world 
of  pleasure  where  she  had  reigned,  where  her  for- 
mer lovers  had  forgotten  her,  and  the  choir  boys 
gathered  around  her  humble  grave  and  sang,  "Rest 
m  Feace. 

One  of  the  favourite  boil  mots  of  this  period  in 

—107— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

the  seventies,  among  these  people  of  the  gambling 
instinct,  which  interprets  the  license  of  the  time,  is 
worth  quoting.    It  was  this : 

"Our  Emperor  Napoleon  stuffs  his  ears  with  cot- 
ton." 

All  women  who  had  been  beloved  by  Napoleon 
III  knew  that  they  would  be  well  treated  in  after 
years.  There  were,  of  course,  occasional  quarrels 
between  the  beautiful  rivals  for  imperial  favour.  I 
remember  an  incident  illustrating  this  between  the 
famous  Mrs.  R.  and  Madame  Soubise.  They  were 
both  devout  Catholics.  One  day  they  met  at  the 
Madeleine,  both  were  suffering  from  a  cold,  both 
entered  a  pew  together,  and  both  were  sneezing.  A 
feud  that  had  lasted  for  a  long  while,  was  patched 
up,  when  one  of  the  ladies  handed  the  other  a  little 
pot  of  cream  and  rosewater  to  rub  on  her  nose. 

Money  came  so  fast  and  so  easily  in  those  colossal 
salons  in  Homburg,  Baden-Baden,  Wiesbaden, 
Monte  Carlo,  it  was  absolutely  thrown  away.  There 
were  magnificent  dinner  parties  cooked  especially 
for  these  royal  gamblers  that  surpassed  anything  to 
be  found  in  the  world. 

And  yet,  were  they  happy? 

I  often  wondered  when  I  saw  Paul  Demidoff 
with  a  petite  blonde,  Countess  de  G.,  what  tradition 
—108— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

could  bring  these  two  opposite  beings  together. 
There  was  so  much  dross  that  glittered,  so  many- 
parasites  living  in  the  rich  soil.  It  was  Paul  Demi- 
doff  who,  for  the  Countess  de  G.,  gave  that  cele- 
brated masquerade  which  cost  the  fabulous  sum  of 
three  million  roubles.  The  entire  suite  of  salons 
were  hung  in  royal  blue  velour  d' Utrecht  with  huge 
cordelieres  in  silver,  and  the  frieze  entirely  covered 
with  superb  Burano  lace.  The  entire  scene  was 
lighted  with  millions  of  wax  candles,  shedding  a 
wonderful  lustre.  It  required  a  separate  staff  of 
footmen  in  gorgeous  livery,  merely  to  snuff  the  can- 
dles, to  prevent  the  grease  from  dropping  on  the 
polished  parquet  floor.  The  effect  of  the  dancers, 
whirling  slowly  to  the  strains  of  Offenbach's  de- 
lightful music,  was  like  a  symbolic  scene  from  the 
underworld,  the  soft  candle  lights  casting  weird 
shadows. 

There  was  a  Grand  Duchess,  dressed  as  Sappho, 
dancing  a  gavotte  with  an  Austrian  Grand  Duke, 
dressed  as  an  Incroyable.  Baruchi  and  her  type 
came  to  the  ball  frankly  as  courtesans  of  the  First 
Empire,  deftly  leaving  little  to  the  imagination, 
wearing  sandals,  pale  rose  tights,  diamonds  and 
coral  anklets,  bracelets  with  gold  and  turquoise 
chains,  attached  to  their  little  fingers,  as  a  Scara- 

—109— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

mouche.    It  was  all  like  a  dream,  only  the  figures 
were  alive. 

Among  the  cavaliers  one  saw  at  these  midnight- 
till-sunrise  feasts  was  the  handsome  Duke  Alva- 
rez de  Toledo,  who  turned  the  heads  of  so  many 
women,  his  cousin  the  Marquis  de  Gandara,  and  the 
Duke  of  Montegano,  representing  the  fine  flower 
of  the  court  of  the  Queen  Isabel  of  Spain,  who,  by 
the  way,  was  a  lady  who  counted  her  lovers  in 
legions.  One  saw  also  General  Pirn,  who  was  her 
constant  companion.  Her  quiet  little  husband, 
Francis  D 'Assise,  was  only  an  onlooker.  She  was 
a  woman  of  tremendous  size,  very  jovial,  debonair, 
a  "real  good  sport."  None  of  her  children  were 
ever  quite  so  popular.  Her  handsome  grenadiers 
always  stood  at  attention  when  this  grand  Queen 
inspected  her  troops,  and  if  history  speaks  the 
truth,  many  of  these  stalwart  soldiers  owed  their 
promotion  to  her. 

One  cannot  but  think,  while  touching  the  royalty 
of  Spain  in  retrospect,  of  that  beautiful  woman,  the 
Infanta  Eulali,  a  lover  of  music  and  books.  She  is 
still  a  very  charming  woman,  a  great  friend  of  the 
Duchess  de  Richelieu,  formerly  the  princess  of  Mo- 
naco. It  was  the  latter  who  made  Isidore  de  Lara, 
the  musician,  celebrated. 
—110— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

These  ladies,  however,  did  not  quite  belong  to  the 
era  of  triumph  in  the  days  of  Napoleon  III.  They 
were  the  comets  only  of  the  end  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire. They  often  came  to  England,  where  I  saw 
them. 

What  delightful  days  of  luxury  those  were  in  the 
sixties,  when  one  disappeared  from  the  domestic 
monotony  for  little  pilgrimages  to  the  gambling 
salons  and  the  races  in  Baden-Baden.  Every  one 
flocked  to  this  charming  watering-place  in  the  Black 
Forest. 

No  one  will  forget  that  wonderful  little  rendez- 
vous called  Stephaniebad,  where  the  most  illustri- 
ous, and  notorious,  people  foregathered  for  break- 
fast. It  was  an  Elysium  tucked  away  in  the  pines. 
The  exquisite  aroma  of  those  pines!  Those  little 
river  trout,  fresh  caught,  served  on  those  silver 
dishes,  invitingly  curled  up!  The  delicious  coffee 
and  cream !  Indeed  you  were  glad  to  be  alive,  and 
those  beautiful  women,  feasting  in  the  morning  sun 
upon  their  eager  prey,  whom  they  confused  that 
they  might  destroy.  They  were  the  decoys  of  the 
gambling  rooms  of  Maison  Blanc. 

I  can  still  see  the  faces  of  the  gamblers  gathered 
around  the  gaming  table.  Faces  that  were  human 
masques  of  great  fortune,  or  great  despair.    Their 

—111— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

bodies  immobile,  they  stood  like  statues.  I  still 
hear  those  delightful  little  screams  of  joy  from  the 
women  as  they  swooped  down  upon  their  winnings 
from  the  tables.  I  also  hear  their  little  sighs  of  de- 
spair, hideous  little  gasps  of  absolute  ruin.  Some- 
times the  ruin  came  in  different  forms. 

I  was  present  when  Madame  Adelina  Patti,  then 
the  Marquise  de  Caux,  when  dining,  one  evening 
on  the  terrace,  near  the  gaming  tables,  was  startled 
by  her  maid,  Caroline,  who  came  rushing  to  her 
very  excitedly  to  say  that  somebody  had  ransacked 
her  rooms  and  escaped  with  all  her  jewels.  She 
never  recovered  them,  and  they  represented  a  huge 
fortune.  Later,  she  became  a  bit  tired  of  her  vola- 
tile husband,  who,  being  aide-de-camp  of  Napoleon 
III,  waved  his  handkerchief  so  often  at  the  ladies 
that  Patti  finally  separated  from  him  peacefully. 
Her  second  husband,  Nicolini,  who  was  certainly 
more  like  a  hair-dresser  than  anything  else,  was  al- 
ready married  and  had  several  children,  when  her 
romance  began.  She  made  him  divorce  his  Italian 
wife,  leave  his  children,  and  paid  his  wife  a  large 
indemnity.  She  gave  employment  to  his  daugh- 
ters, or  at  least  educated  them.  Nicolini  died,  and 
Adelina  Patti's  widowhood  became  involved  in  a 
third  matrimonial  enterprise,  with  Baron  Cedar- 
—112— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

strom,  who  came  from  a  very  aristocratic  Swedish 
family  with  no  money.  They  married,  I  believe 
very  happily,  notwithstanding  that  he  was  thirty 
years  younger  than  herself. 

Perhaps  the  most  inveterate  gambler  of  the  sa- 
lons was  the  Countess  KislefF,  who  with  her  son 
almost  built  the  little  city  of  Homburg  which  they 
ultimately  lost.  Homburg  repaid  them  by  naming 
a  street,  KislefF  Strasse.  I  can  see  the  old  lady 
now  in  her  ample  white  wig  profusely  ornamented 
with  artificial  flowers.  On  the  hottest  day  she  wore 
a  heavy  black  mantilla  of  velvet,  and  her  dress,  also 
a  black  velvet,  had  a  sweeping  train  which  fell  in 
gorgeous  folds  behind  her.  Her  esclavage,  a  huge 
necklace  peculiar  to  that  period,  which  was  wound 
many  times  about  the  neck  and  hung  far  down  on 
the  body,  was  of  such  enormous  precious  stones  that 
the  countess  attracted  the  attention  of  the  multi- 
tude, through  which  she  passed  on  entering  the 
gaming  salon,  for  she  was  eccentric  to  a  degree. 

Her  servants  were  always  with  her,  and  she  was 
carried  in  a  sedan  chair  of  the  Louis  IV  period  to 
the  gaming  salons.  She  lived  in  them,  entering 
them  at  eleven  A.  M.  and  never  leaving  them  till 
eleven  P.  M.  Her  luncheon  was  brought  in  to  her 
on  a  silver  tray.  After  luncheon  she  would  take  her 

—113— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

money  rake  and  begin  afresh  with  all  her  cards  be- 
side her,  and  all  the  tricks  of  her  system  to  break 
the  bank  at  work.  Her  system  usually  failed,  but 
she  occasionally  made  a  great  deal  of  money.  Judg- 
ing by  the  amount  of  money  she  lost,  her  fortune 
must  have  been  superior  to  Rothschild's.  Her  son 
inherited  a  colossal  fortune,  which  permitted  him 
to  live  where  he  liked  and  how  he  liked.  Naturally 
he  was  very  popular  with  the  stage  beauties,  par- 
ticularly with  a  French  dancer  of  the  type  which 
was  then  so  much  admired  in  the  world-famous 
"Black  Crook."  The  peculiarity  of  this  type  was 
that  all  the  ladies  of  the  ballet  wore  black  tights 
and  red  shoes. 

I  recall  the  trio  of  graceful  dancers,  Madame 
Brunette,  Finette,  and  Bouhelier,  who  were  the 
attraction  of  the  Little  Theatre  in  Homburg.  Then 
there  was  the  famous  Fidelaire,  who  danced  so 
gracefully  on  a  thin  wire  rope.  The  code  of  that 
period  was  to  enjoy  life  at  any  cost,  our  code  is  to 
take  the  best  and  leave  the  dregs. 

It  was  at  Compiegne  where,  when  the  hunting 
season  began,  one  saw  the  most  wealth  and  nobil- 
ity of  the  old  regime.  Here  one  saw  the  Countess 
of  M.,  the  Countess  de  G.,  the  Princess  S.,  the  Mar- 
quise L.,  the  Duchess  de  M.  A  romance  of  this 
—114— 


ROYAL  GAMBLERS— THEIR  AMOURS 

time  was  that  of  the  Duke  D'Aumale  waiting  for 
his  beloved  Blanche  D'Antinguee,  that  glorious 
creature  with  the  lovely  ash-blonde  hair  and  a  fig- 
ure like  a  Juno,  who  was  such  a  favourite  in  that 
play,  "The  Craven  Eye."  He  gave  her  the  most 
beautiful  hotel  in  the  Avenue  Bois  de  Boulogne. 
It  was  she  who  was  afterwards  immortalised  by 
Emil  Zola  in  his  book  called  "Nana." 


— 115— ^ 


CHAPTER  IV 

COURT  SOCIETY  AROUND  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES 

No  one  can  read  this  story  of  the  society  that  sur- 
rounded royalty  in  England,  during  the  regime, 
without  feeling  that  it  is  pre-eminently  a  history  of 
mixed  hypocrisy  and  convincing  scandal.  The 
story  of  the  Court  of  St.  James,  from  that  period 
when  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  perhaps  twenty,  and 
whose  first  guide  into  the  world  of  romance  was 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  beautiful  women  of 

the  Court,  the  Duchess  of  M ;  to  that  period 

of  mature  diplomacy  which  has  placed  him  in  the 
record  of  international  affairs  as  the  greatest  of 
royal  diplomats,  there  is  a  ceaseless  list  of  beautiful 
women  and  wonderful  amours.  It  is  my  intention 
to  take  individually  and  separately  each  one  of 
those  favourite  Court  beauties  who  influenced  the 
career  of  Edward  VII.  This  is  to  be  a  chronicle, 
chiefly,  of  the  brilliant  trail  along  which  royalty 
and  its  contemporaries  have  travelled  downward. 
It  is  a  chronicle  told  entirely  from  my  personal 
—116— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

knowledge  and  experience  of  Court  life,  and  may 
therefore  contain  unknown  and  untold  incidents 
that  gossip  and  rumour  have  more  or  less  distorted. 
In  later  chapters  the  psychology  of  love,  as  it  in- 
fluenced the  Court  of  Great  Britain,  will  be  de- 
veloped objectively.  It  is  my  purpose  only,  in  these 
opening  pages,  therefore,  to  prepare  the  way. 

One  must  put  aside  the  most  important  tradi- 
tions of  convention,  one  must  look  upon  the  heart 
stories  of  these  beautiful  women  comprehendingly, 
with  a  sympathy,  with  a  broad  idea  that  the  morals 
of  love  must  not  be  stupefied  by  convention.  Re- 
membering, that  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VII  so- 
ciety plunged  from  the  heights  of  the  sublime  to  the 
verge  of  the  ridiculous,  we  must  reluctantly  assume 
that  the  strong  and  simple  character  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria was  not  sustained  by  the  heir  apparent  to  the 
throne.  Unquestionably  he  was  sorely  tempted. 
Quite  early  in  his  royal  career,  the  prince  estab- 
lished such  blundering  relationships  with  the  beau- 
ties of  the  Court  of  St.  James,  that  only  his  ex- 
treme good  humour  and  personal  tact  saved  him 
from  open  scandal.  There  was  no  special  reserve 
of  attitude,  no  sacred  circle  drawn  around  his  royal 
presence.  He  was  the  subject  of  much  gossip  at 
the  London  clubs,  where  men  irreverently  asked 

—117— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

each  other,  "Who  is  the  prince's  latest  mash?" 
I  gathered  something  of  the  splendour  of  His 
Royal  Highness 's  tastes  in  love,  from  the  gowns  I 
designed  for  these  Court  beauties.  Like  other  men, 
His  Royal  Highness  was  lured  by  the  dazzle  of 
laces  and  satins.  They  were  decidedly  enticing, 
these  lovely  women,  when  I  had  finished  with  them. 
In  the  interval,  during  which  they  went  through  the 
processes  of  my  fitting  room,  they  confided  to  me 
the  secrets  of  their  vanities,  their  ambitions,  and — 
some  of  them,  of  their  hearts.  I  made  many  of 
their  dresses,  and  some  startling  negligees.  One 
really  could  not  blame  any  man,  not  even  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  for  submitting  to  their  enticing 
beauty. 

It  was  not  only  the  affairs  in  which  His  Royal 
Highness  was  concerned  that  established  the  char- 
acter, may  I  say  the  dissipation  of  the  Court  of  St. 
James.  When,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  His  Royal 
Highness  found  himself  the  leader  of  the  highest 
social  circles  of  England,  there  had  been  scandals, 
and  there  had  been  love  stories  that  should  have 
shocked  him,  had  he  inherited  the  strict  qualities  of 
his  adorable  mother,  Queen  Victoria. 

In  the  early  eighties,  for  instance,  one  of  the  most 
charming    women    was    the    Dowager  -Cpuntess 
—118— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

C ,  who  found  relief  from  prosaic  surroundings 


in  a  romance  with  the  Duke  of  B ,  then  the 

Earl  of  W.  It  was  a  romance  that  lasted  for  many- 
years,  and  perhaps  would  have  been  undisturbed 
until  now,  except  for  the  appearance  on  the  horizon 

of  a  Madame  de  T ,  who  openly  rivalled  the 

exquisite  Countess.  The  result  of  this  situation 
was  much  anonymous  and  libellous  correspond- 
ence which  produced  almost  a  law  suit  that  would 
have  steeped  London  society  deep  in  the  mire. 
It  was  a  most  unsavoury  condition,  and  was 
widely  talked  about  in  London  society.  The  Dow- 
ager Countess  C.'s  husband  was  divorced  several 
times.  His  son  went  on  the  stage  after  marrying 
a  chorus  girl.  The  most  extraordinary  part  of  this 
relation  is  the  fact  that  it  was  generally  accepted, 
and  sustained  among  their  friends.  They  were 
usually  invited  together  by  hostesses  of  brilliant  po- 
sition, and  their  intimacy  was  not  disturbed  or  criti- 
cised. In  fact,  it  was  generally  understood  that  the 
Dowager  Countess  C.  would  eventually  marry  her 
aristocratic  affinity  on  the  death  of  her  husband. 
When  the  Duke  of  B.  transplanted  his  affections, 
it  was  a  great  blow  to  her.  The  Duke,  however, 
married  her  rival,  and  has  been  singularly  happy 
and  devoted  to  his  family.    The  Dowager  Countess 

—119— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

C.  retired  into  absolute  seclusion.  It  was  a  mys- 
terious fact  in  the  history  of  these  romances  of 
Court  life,  that  the  heart-broken  took  their  punish- 
ment with  singular  courage.  Doubtless,  there  is  a 
great  reserve  force  in  the  pride  which  lies  in  the 
blood  of  the  aristocrat.  The  Dowager  Countess,  in 
after  years,  only  referred  to  her  devotion  to  the 
Duke  of  B.  with  a  certain  peculiar  pride  in  the  fact 
that  she  had  never  been  ruled  by  conventions  of  the 
world.  Her  daughter  married  well,  but  inherited 
the  flirtatious  qualities  of  her  mother.  She  became 
the  second  wife  of  Lord  W.,  because  his  first  wife, 
Lady  Lilian  W.,  was  involved  in  a  love  affair  with 
the  Marquis  of  S.,  whose  adventures  were  notori- 
ous. 

In  these  chronicles  of  Court  romance,  Lady  Lil- 
ian W.  ranks  among  the  daring  and  regardless 
beauties.  She  was  of  statuesque  figure,  had  beau- 
tiful Titian  hair,  and  her  extreme  tastes  and  ex- 
travagance in  dress  became  practically  an  asset  for 
the  luxurious  but  questionable  marquis.  He  was  an 
attache  in  one  of  the  Courts  of  Europe.  Because 
of  his  peculiar  complexion  he  was  spoken  of  in  so- 
ciety as  "The  Blue  Monkey."  I  believe  that  for 
some  inexplicable  reason,  probably  the  caprice  of 
femininity,  he  was  rather  enthusiastically  admired. 
—120— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

In  the  sense  of  certain  acknowledged  qualities  that 
go  to  make  up  the  term  "thorough  gentleman"  he 
was  accepted  everywhere.  He  was  a  thoroughbred, 
an  intimate  of  His  Royal  Highness.  They  were 
constantly  together.  Many  were  the  trips  up  the 
river  to  Oxford  they  had  together. 

How  wonderful  all  these  favoured  women  were, 
— tall,  beautiful  figures,  lovely  heads,  faces  like  ma- 
donnas, hair  that  intoxicated.  One  in  particular  I 
recall,  who  to-dav  is  in  the  Red  Cross  sisterhood, 
whose  waist  was  so  marvellously  slender  that  His 
Royal  Highness,  when  waltzing  with  her,  declared 
that  he  was  afraid  she  would  break  in  half, — but 
of  course  she  didn't.  The  Prince  of  Wales  seemed 
to  have  a  taste  for  witty  and  spirituelle  women,  in 
his  earlier  years  at  least.  This  particular  Court 
beauty  was  a  splendid  billiard  player.  Her  week- 
end parties  were  always  attended  by  officers  of  the 
crack  regiments. 

Among  the  Court  beauties  was  that  extraordi- 
nary freak  of  British  aristocracy,  the  Marquis  of 
Anglesea,  who  looked,  dressed,  and  aspired  to  be 
a  woman.  He  was  the  fashionable  female  imper- 
sonator of  royalty.  He  gave  special  performances 
in  his  private  theatre  on  his  estate  at  Bodaseer  in 
Wales.    It  was  his  custom  to  invite  all  the  attrac- 

—121— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

tive  chorus  girls  to  these  performances,  and  to  re- 
ward them  with  presents  of  magnificent  diamonds. 
He  had  a  collection  of  emeralds  that  were  the  finest 
in  the  world.  His  fearful  extravagance  eventually 
brought  him  into  bankruptcy.  His  peculiar  dissi- 
pation was  probably  inherited,  for  his  father  di- 
vorced his  first  wife,  an  American,  so  that  he  could 
retire  from  the  world  with  the  Countess  de  G.,  the 
sister  of  the  notorious  Princess  S.,  whose  career  is 
discussed  later  on.  The  Countess  de  G.  was  a  lit- 
tle woman,  very  Russian,  very  barbaric.  She  lived 
for  many  years  at  the  historical  castle  at  Bodaseer, 
in  Wales.  Her  daughter's  trousseau  was  the  most 
gorgeous  ever  made,  I  think.  She  married  the 
Honourable  E.  Stanhope,  son  of  the  Marquis  of  H. 
His  Royal  Highness  made  a  special  visit  to  the 
dressmaker,  to  see  this  trousseau. 

The  Court  of  St.  James  may  have  had  the  out- 
ward air  of  lethargy,  may  have  seemed  indolent, 
but  the  early  nursery  training  of  royalty  had  evi- 
dently failed  to  stifle  the  intrigues  of  romance.  A 
complete  record  of  the  heart  burnings  at  the  Court 
of  St.  James  is  quite  impossible;  it  would  require 
a  dictionary  to  define  its  moral  psychology.  One 
recalls,  however,  a  few  of  the  high  spots  in  the 
romantic  wilderness  of  inexplicable  love  affairs. 
—122— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

For  instance,  there  was  the  famous  Zulu  beauty, 
as  she  was  called,  the  celebrated  Mrs.  D.  S.,  wife 
of  a  South-African  millionaire.  He  had  untold 
wealth,  and  when  they  came  to  London  they  were 
warmly  received.  She  may  have  inherited  some- 
thing of  the  freedom  of  the  South  African  veldts, 
for  she  was  singularly  willing  to  meet  His  Royal 
Highness  clandestinely.  With  her  bosom  friend, 
Mrs.  W.,  they  took  a  house  in  Kensington,  and 
there  received  His  Royal  Highness  through  the 
subterfuge  of  social  receptions.  These  receptions 
were  a  little  overdone,  as  the  two  women  were  both 
inclined  to  extremes.  The  staircase  of  their  house 
was  banked  with  lilies  of  the  valley  and  violets, 
the  boudoir  smothered  with  Bankshire  roses,  in 
honour  of  His  Royal  Highness.  A  present  peer  of 
the  realm  fell  in  love  with  her.  Her  husband  nat- 
urally divorced  her,  but  His  Royal  Highness  ob- 
jected to  her  marriage  with  the  peer,  and  her  ro- 
mance with  the  latter  was  a  failure.  In  fact,  I 
believe  that  His  Royal  Highness  found  means  to 
estrange  her  from  her  aristocratic  lover,  and 
brought  about  the  result  of  her  remarriage  to  her 
husband.  She  functions  now  as  a  matron  in  one 
of  the  big  hospitals  in  London,  where  she  nurses 
the  heroes  from  the  trenches.     Her  only  son  went 

—123— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

into  the   Seventh  Hussars,   and  became  aide-de- 
camp to  one  of  the  British  generals. 

It  is  impossible  to  escape  a  sense  of  wonder  as  to 
whether  the  conventions  which  are  supposed  to 
protect  one's  emotions  should  be  adopted,  or 
adapted  to  our  hearts.  So  many  of  these  Court 
beauties  of  a  younger  generation  are  now  per- 
forming wonderful  and  heroic  services  for  the 
wounded.  So  many  of  them  began  with  a  fever- 
ish disregard  of  commonplace  respectability,  and 
are  now  accepted  as  teachers  and  sisters  of  mercy. 
To  the  philosopher,  it  is  worth  studying,  this  whirl 
of  emotions  which  brings  so  many  women  to  a  real- 
ization of  higher  and  better  things  than  the  vani- 
ties of  love. 

As  an  instance  of  this  thought,  there  is  the  won- 
derful devotion  and  sincere  friendship  existing  be- 
tween the  Marchioness  of  R.  and  Her  Majesty  the 
Dowager  Queen  Alexandra.  In  her  early  life  the 
marchioness,  because  of  her  regardless  amours,  was 
the  laughing-stock  of  Paris.  She  was  notorious 
among  the  undesirable  women  of  fashion.  A  won- 
derful woman,  with  extraordinary  beauty,  who 
has  emerged  from  the  mire  of  her  emotions  to  the 
heights  of  a  friendship  with  the  most  distinguished 
woman  in  England. 
—124— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

There  was  an  unwritten  law  among  these  hand- 
some women  of  the  Court  of  St.  James,  and  per- 
haps their  beauty  and  their  wit  were  often  miscon- 
strued in  the  opinion  of  those  men  who  reason 
badty.  However,  being  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of 
the  Court  of  St.  James,  silence  among  them  be- 
came an  axiom.  It  had  grown  up  with  them,  be- 
come a  part  of  themselves,  like  a  sense  of  honour. 
Then  too,  they  had  to  be  silent,  to  avoid  being 
talked  about,  or  endure  the  penalty  of  being  forever 
cast  out  of  the  royal  circle.  Many  of  the  mar- 
riages of  these  beautiful  women  and  rather  idle 
men  were  failures. 

That  charming  American  girl  from  Baltimore, 
who  married  a  duke  of  the  realm,  learned  the  un- 
written law  of  the  Court  of  St.  James.  There  was 
a  guardsman  who  laid  down  the  law  to  her.  She 
was  not  really  to  blame,  for  her  husband  chose  a 
pseudo-duchess,  one  Belle  Bilton,  and  with  her  he 
lived  his  romance  apart.  She  indeed  rose  supreme. 
Then,  there  was  that  charming  American  actress 
of  the  musical  stage,  who  even  to-day  retains  her 
beauty  and  her  lovely  child-like  expression.  She 
married,  and  her  memoirs  to-day  would  make  in- 
teresting reading  for  those  English  aristocrats  who 
adored  her.     Love  was  in  the  air!     In  the  Court 

—125— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

of  St.  James  it  was  perpetual  springtime.  One 
never  knew  where  one  would  stumble  upon  an  un- 
expected romance. 

Most  of  these  wonderful  women  of  the  Court  of 
St.  James,  at  least  those  who  inspired  the  greatest 
love  stories,  were  not  young  women.  They  had 
passed  the  meridian  of  life,  and  I  often  wondered 
how  brilliantly  they  kept  those  eminent  men  who 
were  celebrities  in  the  diplomatic  and  military  life 
of  England.  The  Englishman  of  aristocratic 
tendencies,  however,  is  usually  more  charmed  by 
women  of  subtlety  and  wit  than  by  the  most  radi- 
ant youthfulness.  Such  women,  for  instance,  as 
Lady  Sara  Wilson,  dominant,  independent,  brave, 
executive.  Her  book,  which  contained  the  stories 
of  her  experiences  during  her  imprisonment  at 
Mafeking,  in  South  Africa,  was  widely  read.  It 
was  a  many-sided  picture  of  the  life  among  British 
officers  out  there,  and  she  was  very  much  admired 
for  her  delicate  handling  of  certain  romantic  inci- 
dents. She  was  by  no  means  beautiful,  but  she 
deserved  the  glory  of  her  success  since  she  was 
proud,  as  all  the  Churchills  are.  She  came  of  a 
family  that  had  many  romantic  adventures.  In 
fact,  the  entire  atmosphere  in  which  these  ladies  of 
the  Court  of  St.  James  lived,  might  have  been  en- 
—126— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

tirely  contemporary  with  the  Court  of  Louis  XIV. 
One  wonders  how  Queen  Victoria,  who  was  so  ex- 
ceptionally apart  in  character  from  the  quality  of 
the  Court  of  St.  James,  did  not  in  some  vigorous 
way  dispel  the  vulgarism  of  English  society.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  garden  parties  at  Marlborough 
House  were  practically  dominated  by  a  trio  of 
famous  beauties  who  were  known  as  The  Three 
Graces.  They  were  Mrs.  C.  W.,  Mrs.  W.,  and 
Mrs.  L.  The  success  of  these  social  events  was 
practically  created  by  the  beauty  and  elegance  of 
these  women.  And  yet,  men  and  women  in  the 
street  knew  perfectly  well  their  scandalous  reputa- 
tions. But  then,  there  was  hardly  any  member  of 
the  aristocracy  at  the  Court  during  these  times,  who 
had  not  played  some  questionable  character  in  some 
undesirable  romance. 

Surely  every  one  recalls  that  wonderful  case 
where  a  lady  of  one  of  the  proudest  families  of 
Scotland,  a  sister  of  one  of  The  Three  Graces,  was 
called  upon  to  give  evidence  that  her  infant  was 
the  offspring  of  the  future  King  of  England. 
Also  it  is  perhaps  not  forgotten  that  she  was  put 
into  an  asylum  where  some  people  affirm  she  still 
is.  And  after  all,  she  only  spoke  the  truth,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  future  King  of  England 

—127— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

had  to  go  upon  the  witness  stand  to  contradict  the 
venomous  reports  which  made  the  whole  of  London 
ashamed. 

As  in  all  Courts,  it  was  the  custom  for  the  aristo- 
crats of  the  Court  to  exert  all  their  strength  and 
polish  to  consolidate  the  ruling  passions  of  the  sov- 
ereign, or  the  heir  apparent.  This  may  explain 
many  of  the  disturbing  elements  of  the  English 
Court  which  have  passed  into  the  chronicles  of  scan- 
dal. The  first  event  in  the  amours  of  His  Royal 
Highness  which  stirred  society  to  its  depths,  was 
his  affair  with  the  beautiful  English  actress. 

As  a  human  document  she  has  become  one  of  the 
most  interesting  in  the  entire  history  of  the  Court 
of  St.  James,  because  perhaps  she  has  survived  the 
customary  downfall.  She  preserved  her  incognito 
fairly  well,  but  when  receiving  His  Royal  High- 
ness assumed  her  new  relationship  with  gusto.  So 
as  to  facilitate  the  laxity  of  His  Royal  Highness' 
domestic  ties  at  Court,  many  revels  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  houses  of  his  boon  companions,  where 
this  beautiful  English  actress  met  him.  To  be 
sure,  she  was  supplanted  by  other  beautiful  women, 
but  her  reign  was  as  glorious  as  theirs.  She 
amassed  a  huge  fortune,  and  it  is  said  beggared 
one  or  two  millionaires.  Colossal  sums  passed 
—128— 


COURT  SOCIETY— PRINCE  OF  WALES 

through  the  hands  of  these  Court  beauties  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Of  course,  a  great  deal  of 
this  money  went  to  the  jewellers,  the  dressmakers, 
who  must  have  profited  enormously.  Doubtless 
she  would  like  to  have  been  able  to  retain  the  con- 
stancy of  her  royal  swain,  but  not,  I  imagine,  be- 
cause she  wished  to  satisfy  her  heart. 

I  wonder  if  she  really  possessed  one? 

The  affair  with  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the  episode  con- 
cerning the  loss  of  her  diamonds  at  her  beautiful 
house  in  London,  helped  to  sever  their  very  close 
relationship.  I  am  sure  it  was  an  evil  day  when 
she  broke  the  golden  thread.  She  still  retains  his 
autographed  photos  which  always  adorn  her  abid- 
ing place,  whether  it  is  the  Carlton  in  London  or 
the  Ritz  in  New  York — for  her  royal  lover  became 
a  reigning  sovereign.  Her  marriage  was  decidedly 
one  of  convenience.  Her  husband  had  been  her 
friend,  and  was  anxious  to  marry  her  but  she  used 
to  tell  him,  "Stay  your  tears,  postpone  them  for 
another  time."  Later  he  became  her  husband,  and 
they  lived  together  only  pro  tern.,  parting  quite 
amiably,  for  both  had  attained  their  end,  he  an  in- 
come, and  she  a  fortune. 

The  love  story  of  the  beautiful  countess  whose 
sumptuous  presence  and  exquisite  personality  en- 

—129— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

tirely  captured  His  Royal  Highness  from  the  time 
they  first  met  at  a  Court  function  is  well  known. 
In  a  later  chapter  I  deal  more  fully  with  this  phase 
of  this  adorable  Court  beauty  who,  when  the  end  of 
her  romance  came,  had  to  face  outrageous  calum- 
nies. Some  really  thought  her  more  sinned  against 
than  sinning.  She  was  a  familiar  figure  in  Hyde 
Park,  in  Bond  Street.  Her  motor  was  so  original 
that  it  attracted  wide  attention.  It  was  entirely 
white  outside  and  in. 


—130- 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS 

During  his  younger  days,  His  Royal  Highness 
undoubtedly  kept  open  house  in  his  heart  for  the 
ladies.  He  never  entirely  closed  the  door  to  them 
in  after  years.  To  the  last  he  sent  them  valuable 
presents,  as  he  did  in  his  youth.  There  is  consola- 
tion in  the  thought  (to  those  of  us  who  are  prud- 
ish) that  the  late  King  Edward  VII  clung  with 
the  greatest  affection  and  respect  to  his  lovely  prin- 
cess and  Queen. 

It  was  at  a  wedding  party  in  one  of  the  minor 
German  states  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  proposed 
to  the  Princess  Alexandra  of  Denmark.  Her 
beauty,  her  character,  her  remarkable  dignity  and 
grace  have  passed  into  contemporary  history  with- 
out a  challenge.  Never  have  a  monarch  and  his 
consort  been  so  idolised  and  so  loved  by  the  masses, 
the  classes  and  the  aristocracy,  as  King  Edward 
VII  and  Queen  Alexandra.  Men  went  mad 
about  her  beauty,  but  there  has  never  been  a  breath 

—131— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

of  scandal  about  her.  Her  eldest  son,  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  her.  Her 
eldest  daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Fife,  like  herself, 
married  for  love,  a  man  twenty  years  her  senior,  a 
man  who  had  sowed  his  wild  oats  as  the  friend  of 
her  father.  Of  course,  rumours  of  His  Majesty's 
love  affairs  must  have  reached  the  ears  of  the 
Queen.  Frequently,  no  doubt,  these  rumours  were 
exaggerated.  I  was  told  that  Queen  Alexandra  ex- 
pressed herself  to  an  inquisitive  inquiry  concerning 
her  royal  husband,  as  follows : — 

"If  all  that  the  world  says  of  my  liege,  the  King, 
is  only  in  a  small  degree  true,  all  I  can  say  is  that 
I  am  very  proud  to  possess  such  a  wonderful  per- 
sonality." 

The  women  of  the  Court  of  St.  James  who  fell 
into  the  turmoil  of  luxury,  under  the  sway  of  the 
more  plebeian  instincts  of  man,  which  surrounded 
the  royal  person  of  this  charming  prince,  were 
really  not  in  very  serious  danger  because  they  were 
mostly  in  the  fullness  of  their  maturity,  or  if 
younger,  they  had  grown  old  before  their  time,  per- 
haps robbed  themselves  to  give  their  best  to  their 
royal  prince.  There  was  unquestioned  rivalry, 
and  the  shock  when  the  downfall  of  a  favourite  did 
come,  was  socially  overwhelming. 
—132— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

The  fate  of  the  beautiful  countess  who  for  so 
long  had  been  as  the  Bridge  of  Sighs  to  the  prince's 
love  affairs,  was  really  in  his  hands.  The  affair 
was  broken  at  the  desire  of  the  prince,  but  at  that 
time  the  countess  had  outgrown  her  infatuation  for 
the  man.  At  the  beautiful  castle,  where  she  enter- 
tained him,  everything  was  always  very  quiet  and 
in  excellent  order.  Being  independently  rich,  she 
could  surround  herself  with  regal  luxury.  There 
was  never  any  noise  or  confusion  in  the  manage- 
ment of  this  castle.  To  be  sure,  the  prince  had 
moments  when  his  royal  dignity  burst  bounds,  as 
when  he  chased  a  party  into  the  pastry  cook's  pan- 
try, and  pelted  them  with  flour.  Royalty  some- 
times enjoys  a  primitive  sense  of  humour,  the  un- 
dignified quality  of  such  horseplay  was  shown  on 
the  blank  faces  of  his  royal  followers.  Then  too, 
there  were  occasional  whispers  of  it  in  the  critical 
press,  which  is  the  worst  punishment  of  vulgarism. 

While  the  countess  entertained  the  royal  prince, 
at  the  time  being  fully  aware  that  her  sway  was 
weakened,  the  new  Aspasia,  who  was  not  at  all  a 
woman  of  the  world,  reluctantly  spent  her  evenings 
at  home.  She  was  exquisitely  fair,  with  blue-green 
eyes,  and  of  course  bright  red  lips.  The  happiness 
which  she  expected  from  her  liaison  with  royalty 

—133— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

died  almost  at  its  birth.  However,  she  must  be 
remembered  in  the  history  of  Court  scandal  as  hav- 
ing played  the  part  of  a  royal  mistress  in  name  at 
any  rate.  She  was  loyal  to  her  royal  admirer,  and 
furthermore,  she  gained  the  love  and  respect  of 
other  ladies  of  the  Court.  Even  the  countess,  often 
dismissed  by  historians  with  curt  etiquette,  tried  to 
cheer  up  her  existence  in  after  years.  She  always 
behaved  with  sad  dignity  and  gentleness  in  her 
trying  position.  It  is  not  recorded  that  the  Prince 
of  Wales  suffered  from  any  shattered  ideals.  It 
may  be  assumed  that  in  the  midst  of  his  amours 
certain  refinements  expected  of  royalty  were  not 
too  scrupulously  sustained  in  his  courtships.  These 
reflections,  of  course,  are  in  retrospect,  gathered 
from  information  and  impressions  received  from 
those  who  were  in  the  heart  of  things  at  court  dur- 
ing the  regime  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria  and  the 
young  Prince  of  Wales. 

It  was  in  the  summer,  when  all  the  world  of  hu- 
manity tumbled  pell-mell  from  the  reserve  of  win- 
ter, that  the  prince  and  his  consort  withdrew  to 
Cowes,  a  celebrated  watering  place.  It  was  at 
Cowes  that  many  of  the  court  intrigues  were 
stirred.  It  was  here  that  a  certain  grand  duchess 
of  a  very  cold  country  fell  under  the  spell  of  moon- 
—134— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

lit  mesmerism.  It  is  recorded  that  the  young 
prince  invited  the  grand  duchess  one  evening  for  a 
sail  on  his  yacht.  She  slipped  away  with  him,  un- 
attended by  any  lady-in-waiting,  which  is  a  for- 
bidden act  of  royalty.  Forgetful  of  all  restric- 
tions, they  wandered  away,  and  it  is  said  she  told 
him  in  an  irresponsible  moment  of  feminine  thrill- 
dom  that  she  felt  her  incognito  might  place  her  un- 
der suspicion.  Finally  they  reached  a  place  at  the 
end  of  the  lawn,  where  the  yacht  was  supposed  to 
be,  in  the  wrater  beyond,  and  there  was  no  sign  of 
it.  History  says  there  was  a  dreadful  moment  of 
suspense,  for  she  suddenly  realised  that  the  grand 
duke,  her  husband,  was  probably  in  search  of  her, 
and  grand  dukes  of  cold  countries  are  very  choleric. 
In  the  midst  of  this  pause,  a  footman  ran  breath- 
lessly towards  the  prince,  and  reported  that  the 
yacht  had  been  moored  a  little  further  down  the 
coast.  The  grand  duchess  was  soon  on  deck  again. 
The  Prince's  fidelity  towards  the  fair  sex  was 
always  rather  delicate.  His  affair  with  a  cele- 
brated stage  beauty  made  her  notorious  in  the 
course  of  her  first  year  at  the  Court  of  St.  James, 
not  him.  His  tactics  were  those  of  the  sheathed 
hand.  As  a  man,  he  was  a  great  patron  of  art,  of 
literature,  of  industrial  enterprises,  and  he  was  al- 

—135— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

ways  able  to  promote  the  fortune  of  the  ladies  he 
admired.  She,  of  course,  this  stage  beauty,  was 
enamoured  of  wealth.  Relentless  in  her  relations, 
she  attained  a  dominance  over  the  prince  and  his 
mind  that  was  surprising  to  lookers-on.  Person- 
ally, she  was  not  very  much  liked,  her  mental  hori- 
zon did  not  extend  beyond  her  innate  consciousness 
of  her  physical  powers.  She  was  unflinching  in  the 
face  of  scandal,  though  not  without  the  capacity 
for  tremour.  She  was  not  entirely  exempt  from 
self-deception,  knowing  well  that  she  often  chilled 
the  public  that  went  to  see  her  out  of  curiosity.  She 
was  never  a  popular  idol,  like  Nell  Gwynn  of  King 
Charles's  times,  and  she  treated  her  public  with  a 
shrug  of  her  beautiful  shoulders,  of  which  she  was 
so  proud.  These  were  matters,  however,  which  did 
not  disturb  His  Royal  Highness.  He  never  al- 
lowed any  bonds  which  fettered  him  to  be  strained 
by  this  stage  beauty.  She  was  a  human  document, 
written  in  a  cipher  which  had  not  been  mastered 
and  never  solved.  Sometimes  she  was  very  de- 
lightful. They  were  always  on  friendly  terms, 
even  after  the  break,  and  sometimes  they  dined  to- 
gether. 

I  am  only  writing  those  impressions  that  I  have 
gathered  of  Court  life,  and  drawing  conclusions 
—136— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

from  the  conditions  as  I  find  them.  Allowances 
can  be  reasonably  made  for  His  Royal  Highness, 
whose  youthful  gallantries  in  his  earlier  days  were 
not  entirely  his  own  fault.  How  the  women  pur- 
sued him  with  their  gaze!  How  they  courtesied 
when  he  went  about!  They  followed  him  really 
much  more  than  he  followed  them;  he  was  a  man, 
and  sorely  tempted.  His  successes  were  obviously 
unavoidable.  Sometimes  his  amours  took  a  tragic 
trend. 

Fascinated  by  the  appearance  of  a  charming  wo- 
man, whom  he  saw  crossing  the  courtyard  of  St. 
James's  Palace,  one  day,  he  sent  his  valet,  an  Aus- 
trian, with  a  secret  message,  expressing  his  admira- 
tion. There  was  nothing  ambiguous  about  it, — it 
was  a  clear  confession  of  admiration.  The  lady 
was  not  prepared  to  be  seized  by  royal  flattery,  but 
later  indicated  a  house  of  rendezvous.  The  secret 
appointment  was  kept.  This  unknown  lady,  I 
have  heard,  was  particularly  effective  in  the  choice 
of  the  fine  linen  and  her  crepe  de  chine  petticoats. 
In  discussing  her,  even  her  dressing  gown,  which 
was  of  the  finest  batiste  and  Valenciennes  lace,  was 
spoken  of  with  wonder  and  admiration  by  His 
Royal  Highness  to  a  friend.  He  pleaded  for  an- 
other interview,  for  another  chance  to  see  her  again. 

—137— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Her  reply  was  as  sincere  a  bit  of  feminine  subtlety 
as  one  might  expect.  She  told  him  that  until  she 
became  enamoured  of  a  prince  she  had  been  a  very 
faithful  wife  to  her  husband,  and  that  therefore 
one  lapse  should  not  be  allowed  to  become  a  cus- 
tomary favour.  She  reminded  him  of  her  sacrifice 
in  keeping  the  first  rendezvous,  but  His  Royal 
Highness  insisted.  Finally  she  invited  him  to  visit 
her  a  second  time  at  the  house  of  her  sister  in  Lon- 
don near  Regents  Park.  The  story  goes  that  His 
Highness  went  to  this  house  at  the  appointed  time, 
and  found  it  brilliantly  lighted.  He  knocked  at 
the  door  but  there  was  no  answer.  Astonished  and 
baffled,  he  returned  to  the  street  where  a  young 
man  brushed  against  him. 

"I  have  called  to  see  Madame  R.,"  he  said. 

"She  is  dead!"  said  the  young  man. 

It  is  said  that  His  Royal  Highness  went  to  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  her 
mysterious  death,  without  success.  It  was  ru- 
moured, however,  that  she  was  poisoned  by  her  hus- 
band, who  had  discovered  the  liaison  with  the 
prince. 

I  presume  that  often  His  Royal  Highness 
poured  out  his  confessions  to  his  friend,  Lord  Far- 
quhar,  who  was  his  chum,  but  in  later  years,  in  the 
—138— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

newer  responsibilities  of  the  throne,  His  Majesty 
became  more  orderly,  more  subdued.  During  all 
his  reign,  which  was  far  too  short,  he  was  seldom 
in  a  rage.  With  the  exception  of  the  famous  inci- 
dent which  relates  to  the  indiscretion  of  a  lady  of 
the  stage,  who  dropped  a  piece  of  ice  down  his  back 
at  a  banquet,  King  Edward  never  lost  his  temper. 
I  do  not  believe  he  ever  hated  any  one.  He  was 
sometimes  a  little  undecided,  but  he  always  deferred 
difficulties  to  the  future.  Not  that  he  lacked  the 
courage  to  face  the  music,  but  that  he  was  wise. 

Not  all  the  ladies  of  the  court  were  so  graciously 
willing  to  submit  to  his  royal  gallantries.  There 
was  one  charming  young  aristocratic  girl,  who, 
fearing  the  fascination  of  His  Royal  pursuit, 
threatened  to  immure  herself  in  a  convent  for 
safety.  She  confessed  this  desire  to  her  mother, 
and  gave  her  reasons.  Her  mother  said  this  to 
her: 

"If  you  were  some  old  woman,  who  had  only  a 
few  years  to  live,  your  desire  to  enter  a  convent 
would  not  be  so  unusual.  But,  for  a  lovely  girl 
like  yourself,  pure  and  unattached,  to  enter  a  con- 
vent so  as  to  flee  from  a  future  king,  is  too  ridicu- 
lous. Has  his  conversation  ever  caused  you  any 
scruples,  my  dear?     It's  all  nonsense.     Continue 

—139— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

to  live  in  society,  continue  to  cherish  all  his  kind- 
nesses, and  be  happy." 

This  incident  actually  confirmed  the  impression 
that  His  Royal  Highness  made  upon  the  ladies  of 
his  court,  or  the  impressions  they  made  for  him.     I 
am  inclined  to  think  there  were  some  exaggerations. 
There  were  certain  modesties  about  the  Prince  of 
Wales  that  seemed  to  contradict  any  deep  instinct 
for  dissipation  in  him.     For  instance,  he  was  ab- 
normally fond  of  lemon  cheese-cakes,  a  very  harm- 
less passion,  although  they  were  called,  in  defer- 
ence to  the  prince's  taste,  "Maids  of  Honour."   He 
was  rather  an  epicure  in  pastry.     He  very  much 
preferred  the  English  sort,  however.     These  facts 
were  discovered  about  His  Royal  Highness  because 
when  people  invited  him  out  they  wanted  to  know 
what  were  his  favourite  dishes.     He  disliked  long 
dinners,  and  sometimes,  to  avoid  indigestion,  he 
requested  the  privilege  of  making  the  menu  him- 
self.    But  above  all  things  he  enjoyed  a  good  din- 
ner, and  a  good  cigar,  the  Vally-Vally  or  a  Bock 
being  his  favourite  brand.     He  was  usually  short 
of  ready  money,  and  was  always  assisted  by  his 
friends,  the  late  Baron  Hirsch  and  Sassoon.     The 
prince  and  these  two  gentlemen  made  an  enchant- 
ing trio,  well  known  about  London. 
—140— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

I  do  not  think  that  these  habits  of  the  young 
prince  ever  entirely  left  him  during  his  reign. 
There  was  always  a  feigned  boyishness,  an  irre- 
sponsible smile  about  King  Edward  VII.  He 
seemed  to  be  looking  at  the  world  with  tolerant 
amusement.  It  is  said  that  he  often  told  his  inti- 
mate friends,  that  his  greatest  wish  was  some  day 
to  become  president  of  the  Republic  of  Great  Brit- 
ain. He  was  too  intelligent  a  man  to  enjoy  the 
pomp  and  splendour  with  which  his  rank  was  sur- 
rounded. The  Prince  of  Wales  was  tone-giving, 
to  belong  to  his  set  was  the  social  ambition  of  Lon- 
don. I  am  more  familiar,  of  course,  with  his  later 
years,  that  is  to  say  from  the  time  of  his  marriage, 
than  I  could  be  with  his  early  youth. 

As  a  man,  the  Prince  of  Wales  disciplined  him- 
self for  his  reign  as  King  of  England,  to  some  ex- 
tent. He  did  not  allow  state  affairs  to  enter  into 
his  private  life.  He  was  distinctly  autocratic,  do- 
ing exactly  what  he  chose,  and  permitting  no  inter- 
ference of  any  sort  that  was  likely  to  be  a  stumbling 
block  to  what  he  had  in  view  for  an  hour,  for  a  day, 
or  for  a  month.  Naturally,  most  of  his  engage- 
ments were  made  for  him.  Every  morning  his 
secretary  would  go  up  to  the  private  suite  of  His 
Royal  Highness,  a  bed  room  and  sitting  room.     In 

—141— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

the  latter  room  stood  a  Stock  Exchange  ticker,  giv- 
ing quotations  of  every  bourse  in  the  world.  The 
sitting  room  was  more  like  a  private  office,  con- 
taining a  huge  desk  adorned  by  all  the  portraits  of 
his  family.  The  environment  was  simple  but  dis- 
tinguished. In  the  bed  room  there  was  a  little  low 
iron  bed,  on  which  His  Majesty  slept.  It  was  most 
unlike  an  apartment  of  the  king. 

In  the  outer  corridor,  of  course,  there  were  nu- 
merous pages  walking  up  and  down,  being  ready  to 
announce  any  possible  visitors.  The  private  reti- 
nue of  the  Princess  of  Wales,  now  the  Dowager 
Queen  Alexandra  of  England,  were  all  Danish. 
The  retinue  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  were  all  Ger- 
man. These  men,  who  were  affable  and  well-bred 
servants,  passed  their  lifetime  with  their  Royal 
Highnesses.  They  were  so  devoted  that  one  can 
hardly  believe  they  were  servants.  The  simplicity 
of  the  private  apartments  of  royalty  was  certainly 
in  great  contrast  to  the  magnificence  of  the  recep- 
tion hall  and  staircases  of  the  palace.  I  recall  once 
being  obliged  to  wait  rather  a  long  time  to  see  Her 
Majesty  Queen  Alexandra  because  it  happened 
there  was  a  great  dinner  party  being  given  at  the 
time.  I  was  asked  to  share  the  good  things  of  this 
royal  banquet,  and  all  the  dishes  which  were  passed 
—142— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

to  the  royal  dining  room,  I  tasted.  I  was  served 
with  the  same  food  as  the  king  and  queen  and  their 
royal  guests.  It  took  all  my  moral  force  to  escape 
the  temptation  of  pocketing  one  of  those  exquisite 
little  gold  coffee  cups  with  Apostle  spoons  and 
sugar  tongs  representing  Medusa. 

In  my  position  as  Court  dressmaker  I  was,  of 
course,  given  many  privileges  in  certain  opportuni- 
ties to  meet  royalties,  and  I  was  once  offered  a 
large  sum  of  money  by  a  woman  of  social  ambi- 
tions to  sit  in  my  fitting  room  for  one  day.  The 
disguise  would  have  been  quite  possible,  but  it  was 
a  trick  which  would  have  been  considered  lese- 
majeste.  There  were  many  women  in  London 
society  who  seemed  to  be  hemmed  in,  irresistibly 
restrained  from  great  social  position,  but  who  were 
very  rich. 

There  was  Mrs.  Claude  W ,  who  had  been 

one  of  the  popular  actresses  at  the  Gaiety  Theatre 
in  London,  in  the  time  of  Nellie  Farren.  She  was 
a  woman  whose  refinement  of  appearance  would 
have  made  her  an  ornament  of  elegance  and  beauty 
to  any  society.  She  was  quite  admired  by  many 
of  the  cavaliers  who  surrounded  His  Royal  High- 
ness. She  dressed  most  extravagantly,  and  I  was 
told  she  owed  her  dressmaker  in  Paris  at  one  time 

—143— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

over  five  thousand  pounds.  Of  course  her  husband 
was  the  son  of  a  rich  brewer.  He  inherited  mil- 
lions, so  that  his  wife  lived  in  so  lavish  a  manner 
that  she  was  the  talk  of  London,  where,  by  the  way, 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  extravagance.  Colossal 
fortunes  were  spent  on  jewels  and  ornaments  that 
dazzled  the  rich  and  the  envious.  The  grand  tier 
of  boxes  at  Covent  Garden  during  the  opera  sea- 
son was  quite  as  brilliant  as  the  horse-shoe  at  the 
Metropolitan  in  New  York.  Most  of  the  wealth 
of  London  society  in  these  days,  when  the  Prince 
of  Wales  revolutionised  the  customs  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria, was  represented  by  American  women. 

There  was  the  daughter  of  Mrs.  Bradley  Mar- 
tin, Lady  Craven,  whose  jewels  were  superb,  and 
who  very  often  had  with  her  her  little  friend,  Mrs. 
Sam  Newhouse,  an  American  woman  who  had  glori- 
ous pearls.  People  shot  up  the  social  ladder  in  Lon- 
don society  at  this  time  as  fast  as  their  money  could 
lift  them.  Perhaps  the  example  which  His  Royal 
Highness  gave  to  society  at  this  time  made  it  a 
little  more  decadent.  Under  the  mantle  of  Queen 
Victoria's  reign  there  was  no  room  for  the  liberties 
which  were  inaugurated  by  the  prince.  There  were 
embarrassing  moments,  or  at  least  opportunities 
for  them  in  the  rooms  of  a  fashionable  dressmaker, 
— H4— 


THE  GALLANTRIES  OF  H.  R.  H. 

Frequently,  through  mistake,  a  bill  for  a  gown, 
not  intended  for  the  wife,  would  accidentally  reach 
her.  It  might  be  for  a  copy  of  the  identical  gown 
which  she  was  wearing. 

Then  there  was  that  delightful  little  community 
that  lived  in  St.  John's  Woods,  the  particular 
quarter  in  London  where  tired  husbands  telephoned 
their  wives  that  they  would  be  detained  at  the  of- 
fice. Deviltry  was  in  the  air,  from  the  time  the 
Prince  of  Wales  took  the  reins  of  London  society 
in  his  hands.  It  even  demoralised  such  intellectual 
giants  as  Lord  Beaconsfield  and  Mr.  Gladstone. 
Gladstone  had  tremendous  brain-power,  several 
times  refused  the  peerage,  and  had  a  home  life  of 
high  ideals.  He  was,  however,  particularly  fond 
of  the  ladies,  and  often  stopped  on  his  way  home 
from  parliament  in  front  of  a  celebrated  shop  win- 
dow in  London,  where  the  pictures  of  the  reigning 
beauties  were  always  in  evidence.  When  Mrs. 
Asquith,  who  was  Miss  Tennant,  was  married,  Mr. 
Gladstone  wrote  her  a  letter  of  congratulation 
which  created  a  good  deal  of  satirical  comment. 

"It  is  my  fervent  prayer,"  he  wrote,  "that  you 
shall  always  be  the  recipient  of  as  much  love  as  it 
is  possible  for  a  gentleman  to  give  you." 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  never  a  favourite  of  Queen 

—145— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Victoria's,  although  she  was  a  Tory,  but  kings  and 
queens  cannot  show  favouritism. 

One  man,  however,  stands  out  in  my  recollections 
of  this  early  period  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  social 
reign,  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  He  was  the 
tallest  man  in  the  realm,  and  founded  a  peculiar 
religious  sect  called  Unionists.  Their  religious 
leaders  were  called  Elders,  and  their  doctrine  was 
the  enlightenment  of  charity  and  love  in  its  purest 
form.  The  Duke  of  Northumberland  was  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  men  of  this  time.  Lord  Percy, 
his  eldest  son,  was  accidentally  killed  in  Paris.  His 
mother  was  a  sister  of  the  late  Duke  of  Argyle. 

It  is  a  world  of  perpetual  change,  and  little  re- 
mains of  so  many  things  in  London  which  were 
talked  about  at  that  time. 


—146— 


CHAPTER  VI 

BRIDES  AND  WEDDING  GOWNS  OF  THE  COURT 

OF  ST.  JAMES 

London  in  the  early  eighties  was  famous  for  the 
extravagance  and  daring  of  the  toilettes  worn  by- 
its  beautiful  women.  It  was  at  this  time  I  made 
the  trousseau  of  the  only  daughter  of  the  Countess 
de  Galve,  the  Honourable  Mrs.  Stanhope.  It  was 
the  most  extravagant  trousseau  that  had  been  made 
in  London  up  to  that  time,  and  many  people  came 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  it.  All  the  lingerie  was 
trimmed  with  priceless  real  lace,  and  of  each  article 
there  were  six  dozen.  The  bride  was  a  beauty  of 
an  absolutely  Russian  type.  She  was  very  well 
formed,  rather  tall,  and  had  many  accomplish- 
ments. She  painted  well,  she  was  a  fine  musician, 
a  brilliant  conversationalist.  The  wedding  gown 
was  of  real  lace,  point  d' Alencon,  with  forget-me- 
nots  and  lilies-of-the-valley.  The  bride's  aunt,  the 
Princess  Souvaroff,  appeared  at  the  wedding  in 
royal  purple  and  orange  velvet.  She  had  been  one 
of  the  famous  beauties  of  the   Second  Empire. 

—147— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Even  the  Prince  of  Wales  came  to  look  at  and  ad- 
mire this  marvellous  collection  of  feminine  crea- 
tions, the  news  of  their  fabulous  cost  having 
reached  his  ears. 

"Where  in  the  world  did  you  conceive  these 
dainty  impressions?  What  a  happy  mortal  you 
must  be  to  be  allowed  to  study  the  beautiful  things 
so  near,"  said  His  Royal  Highness. 

The  Countess  de  Galve,  the  bride's  mother,  was 
so  delighted  with  the  result  of  my  work  that  in 
token  of  her  appreciation  she  gave  me  a  superb  dia- 
mond and  sapphire  marquise  ring.  This  trousseau 
was  the  most  expensive  I  ever  made,  almost  regal, 
for  it  ran  into  four  figures. 

It  was  shortly  after  this  that  I  made  the  wedding 
gown  for  the  two  lovely  daughters  of  the  Countess 
of  Leitrim,  who  were  married  within  a  day  of  each 
other.  They  were  their  Ladyships  Winifred  Ren- 
shaw  and  Lady  Vivian.  They  were  each  of  them 
different  types  of  English  beauty,  but  they  were 
both  tall,  erect,  and  distingue.  Their  bridal  gowns 
were  of  white  satin  charmeuse,  with  bridesmaids  en 
suite  in  palest  rose.  They  were  married  in  St. 
Peter's  Church,  which  is  famous  for  its  beautiful 
choir.  Lady  Vivian,  soon  after  her  marriage,  be- 
came a  widow,  and  I  believe  married  again.  Both 
—148— 


BRIDES  AND  WEDDING  GOWNS 

these  girls  were  good  sports,  and  had  been  wonder- 
fully brought  up  to  open  air  life.  Their  late  father 
was  a  victim  of  the  Irish  feud,  and  was  shot  on  their 
own  property.  Her  Ladyship,  the  Countess  of 
Leitrim,  was  a  daughter  of  that  celebrated  sports- 
man, Lord  Leicester.  Her  sisters  all  married 
peers  of  England.  There  is  a  romance  attached 
to  the  history  of  Lord  Leicester's  eldest  son,  who 
disappeared  from  England  and  has  never  been 
heard  of  since.  These  mysterious  cupboards  that 
hold  family  skeletons  are  pretty  liberally  scattered 
among  the  rich  and  powerful. 

The  fame  of  these  trousseaux  spread,  and  it  be- 
came the  vogue  for  brides  of  this  period  to  come 
to  me.  Among  the  many  brides  I  prepared  for 
the  altar  there  was  none  more  charming  than  the 
pretty  Countess  of  Arran,  a  Dutch  girl,  who  cre- 
ated quite  a  furore  as  a  bride.  She  was  the  real 
type  of  Holland  beauty,  tall  and  blonde.  Her 
husband  was  a  great  contrast  to  her,  being  a  sturdy 
man,  a  typical  country  squire  of  the  old  style.  She 
is  living  to-day  upon  her  property  in  Ireland.  She 
was  a  very  democratic,  congenial  girl,  spoke  many 
languages  very  well,  was  a  good  horsewoman,  and 
her  favourite  idea  of  colour  in  her  mode  of  dress  was 
pastel.     She  has  become  thoroughly  English,  her 

—149— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

mother  being  an  English  woman,  the  daughter  of 
the  late  Sir  Bowden  of  Australia,  who  was  very 
wealthy.  One  exquisite  toilette  I  made  for  her, 
I  particularly  remember,  was  of  lilac  crepe  de 
chine,  trimmed  with  the  most  valuable  Bucking- 
hamshire lace.  A  court  train  gown  of  amethyst 
velvet  lined  with  sura,  trimmed  with  huge  pansies 
and  lilacs. 

Among  all  the  brides  of  my  acquaintance,  how- 
ever, there  was  never  one  like  Rachel  Gurney,  now 
the  Countess  of  Dudley.  She  was  an  epoch-mak- 
ing bride. 

Rachel  Gurney  was  a  beauty  of  the  dark  type, 
and  a  musician  of  note.  She  played  the  harp  di- 
vinely, and  had  the  most  enchanting  voice.  She 
was  comparatively  poor  and  was  brought  up  by 
the  Marchioness  of  Tavistock,  now  Adeline,  Duch- 
ess of  Bedford,  a  most  beautiful  woman,  who 
dressed  always  in  perfect  taste.  Her  sister,  Laura 
Gurney,  now  Lady  Trowbridge,  who  is  much  ad- 
mired for  her  literary  taste,  was  brought  up  by 
her  Aunt,  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  well  known  in 
America.  Their  mother,  who  was  a  sister  of  the 
late  Countess  Somers,  was  also  a  real  beauty. 
When  through  the  business  failure  of  her  late  hus- 
band, fortune  proved  fickle,  she  too  entered  the 
—150— 


QUEEN    MARY 

This  photograph,  showing  Queen  Mary  in  her  magnificent  Coronation  Robe, 
was  given  to  the  author  as  an  expression  of  Her  Majesty's  appreciation  of  her 
art.  The  gown  was  of  satin,  richly  embroidered,  and  demanded  the  utmost 
originality   and   skill   on   the   part   of  its   designer. 


BRIDES  AND  WEDDING  GOWNS 

field  of  fashion  as  a  modiste,  until  she  married 
again. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  excitement  with  which 
Lady  Dudley  rushed  in  upon  me  one  day  to  decide 
upon  a  gown  for  her  engagement  supper  party. 

"Do  tell  me  what  I  shall  wear  to-night,"  she 
pleaded, 

The  solution  was  a  simple  mousseline,  with  a  ba- 
tiste sash  of  orange.  She  was  very  dark,  with  a 
glorious  figure,  and  she  was  an  accomplished  musi- 
cian and  linguist.  Still,  people  were  surprised  that 
she  should  have  made  such  a  grand  match  with 
Lord  Dudley,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  feeling 
of  jealousy  and  envy. 

Lillian,  Countess  of  Cromartie,  the  mother  of 
Lady  Stuart  Richardson,  who  made  such  a  sensa- 
tion in  America  in  her  barefoot  dancing,  was  one 
of  the  most  charming,  delightful  women  whom  I 
took  the  greatest  delight  in  dressing.  Neither 
Lady  Stuart  Richardson,  her  daughter,  nor  the 
younger  Lady  Cromartie,  who  married  Major 
Blount,  could  ever  hold  a  candle  to  their  beautiful 
mother,  Lillian,  Countess  of  Cromartie.  Even 
now,  though  her  hair  is  perfectly  white,  she  retains 
her  fascinating  dimples,  and  that  wonderful  skin 
of  marble  purity  and  whiteness.     I  should  regard 

—151— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

her  to-day  as  a  singularly  beautiful  and  attractive 
woman,  with  charming  manners  that  have  made 
her  admired  and  adored  everywhere.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  the  Lord  of  the  Isle  (MacDonald),  a 
very  old  and  historical  family.  She  had  a  special 
photograph  taken  for  me  in  one  of  my  gowns,  in 
appreciation  of  my  talent. 

Another  lovely  creature  was  the  Countess  of 
Faversham,  the  mother  of  that  trio  of  famous  beau- 
ties, the  late  Duchess  of  Leinster,  Lady  Howard 
Vincent,  and  Lady  Marie  Duncombe. 

She  had  a  personality  that  was  very  much  above 
the  average  of  English  beauty.  At  a  very  early 
age  her  hair  turned  snow  white,  which  gave  her  a 
proud  and  distant  demeanour.  Her  natural  re- 
serve prevented  many  people  in  a  measure  from 
appreciating  her,  but  my  personal  intercourse  with 
her  was  always  adorable.  I  made  a  court  gown  for 
her  in  a  new  shade  at  that  time,  known  as  chaudron 
velvet,  almost  copper-colour.  It  was  trimmed  with 
priceless  lace,  and  the  mantle  that  hung  from  both 
shoulders  was  of  deep  bronze  velvet  fastened  with 
two  huge  rubies.  She  presented  a  very  sensational 
appearance  at  Court,  and  King  Edward  compli- 
mented her  most  impressively.  She  sleeps  now 
with  other  famous  beauties  who  have  passed  away, 
—152— 


BRIDES  AND  WEDDING  GOWNS 

with  her  late  husband,  but  there  are  many  Dukes 
and  Princes  who  have  survived  her,  who  are  still 
singing  her  praises. 

Those  lovely  English  women  were  supreme,  and 
one  looks  in  vain  to-day  for  such  elegance  and 
beauty.  Those  English  women  were  famous  for 
perfect  poise. 

Miss  Agnes  Keyser,  known  now  as  Sister  Agnes, 
was  always  admired  for  her  sylphlike  figure.  She 
used  to  be  one  of  the  most  beautifully  gowned 
women  in  London.  Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
she  has  spent  her  wealth  lavishly  in  a  good  cause. 
To  see  her  to-day  in  the  simple  but  extremely  be- 
coming garb  of  a  Sister  of  the  Red  Cross,  one  can- 
not help  remembering  how  brilliantly  she  adorned 
the  gay  world  of  London.  She  has  received  nu- 
merous decorations,  and  she  was  among  those  celeb- 
rities who  had  entree  to  King  Edward's  corona- 
tion. Her  house  in  Grosvenor  Gardens  has  been 
converted  into  a  hospital  for  wounded  soldiers. 

Not  far  from  me  in  Wilton  Crescent,  lived  Mrs. 
G.  K.,  who  was  devotedly  admired  by  His  Majesty 
King  Edward  VII.  She  was  intellectual  and  fas- 
cinating long  before  she  became  celebrated  at 
Court.  After  the  birth  of  her  first  baby  she  sent 
to  me  for  some  tea  gowns. 

—153— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

"Not  too  expensive,  and  as  pretty  as  possible," 
was  her  message.  I  sent  her  several  which  pleased 
her,  and  in  later  years,  when  she  did  not  need  to 
economise  so  much,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  making 
her  some  very  elaborate  and  beautiful  costumes. 
She  was  a  very  spirituelle  type,  and  of  such  bril- 
liant wit  that  while  it  brought  her  the  adoration  of 
her  friends  it  made  many  enemies  for  her.  Her 
entertainments  in  her  mansion  in  Grosvenor  Place 
were  thronged  with  smart  and  important  people, 
who  came  to  see  and  to  be  seen.  It  was  of  Mrs. 
George  Keppel  that  the  story  was  told  of  a  bit  of 
repartee  aimed  at  her  by  a  burglar. 

It  is  claimed  that  she  discovered  a  burglar  in  her 
bedroom  one  night. 

"What  are  you  doing  under  my  bed?"  she  asked 
the  burglar. 

"I  am  looking  for  a  sovereign,"  replied  the  bur- 
glar. 

There  are  so  many  little  anecdotes  that  one  is 
tempted  to  spice  this  reminiscence  food  with,  that 
might  be  as  salt  to  the  palate.  I  hope  I  may  be 
forgiven  for  occasionally  flavouring  my  story  with 
them.  One  is  naturally  interested  in  anything  that 
may  bring  us  closer  to  those  charming  and  beau- 
tiful women,  who  always  improve  upon  acquain- 
—154— 


BRIDES  AND  WEDDING  GOWNS 

tance.  But  I  must  heed  the  advice  of  Lady  Teazle 
in  "School  for  Scandal,"  who,  when  she  left  the 
room,  said: 

"Ladies,  I  go,  but  I  leave  my  character  with 
you." 


—155— 


CHAPTER  VII 

A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

The  history  of  the  great  beauty  and  power  over 
His  Royal  Highness  of  the  beautiful  Countess  of 

W has  been  more  or  less  inaccurately  told,  and, 

I  may  add,  with  more  or  less  distortions.  Among 
other  women  during  the  period  of  her  reign,  I 
knew  her  very  well,  and  I  am  not  among  those  who 
share  the  opinion  that  she  was  entirely  cold  blooded 
and  vain  in  her  devotion  to  His  Majesty.  She  was 
herself  an  aristocrat,  a  woman  of  fine  blood  and 
feeling.  Her  father  was  an  English  officer,  her 
mother  of  the  English  nobility.  She  had  only  one 
sister,  not  quite  so  distinguished,  perhaps,  as  her- 
self, but  a  woman  who  by  marriage  and  her  own 
right  enjoyed  a  good  deal  of  social  prominence  in 
London.  Their  father,  who  was  one  of  the  richest 
land  owners  in  England,  almost  a  triple  million- 
aire, left  them  a  large  fortune,  which  they  spent 
royally.  The  countess  was  extremely  beautiful. 
As  a  young  girl  her  complexion  and  her  hair  were 
—156— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

faultless.  She  had  a  perfectly  divine  figure,  a  most 
charming  disposition,  and  was  unusually  clever  and 
witty.  Her  husband,  a  peer  in  the  realm  and  an 
officer  of  the  Life  Guards,  was  a  very  handsome 
man,  of  the  dark  type,  and  they  made  an  ideal  cou- 
ple. Her  son  is  now  at  the  front.  He  too  is  mar- 
ried. Quite  early  in  her  career  this  beautiful  wo- 
man was  christened  among  her  friends,  "The  Dar- 
ling of  the  Gods."  This  is  not  so  many  years  ago 
but  perhaps  it  seems  to  be  so  because  so  many  per- 
sonalities and  events  have  blurred  the  memories. 
The  countess  to-day  is  a  very  strikingly  handsome 
woman,  and  has  fully  sustained  the  dignity  of  her 
past  romance.  I  call  it  romance  because  I  sin- 
cerely believe  that  it  was.  Aside  from  my  own 
opinion,  there  is  much  reason  for  confirming  it  in 
the  fact  that  Queen  Victoria,  the  Duchess  of  Teck, 
in  fact  all  the  blood-ties  of  royalty,  did  their  best 
to  justify  the  affair  on  the  grounds  of  unalloyed 
friendship.  Queen  Victoria  received  her  very  gra- 
ciously at  court,  even  when  society  at  large  did  not 
treat  her  quite  correctly.  The  Duchess  of  Teck 
said  to  me  once,  in  reference  to  the  amour  of  the 
beautiful  countess  and  the  late  king,  "There  is 
nothing  in  all  this  scandal.  He  likes  her  very 
much,  as  he  does  many  others, — and  that  is  all." 

—157— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  time  that  the  truth  about 
this  romance  be  published.  The  fact  is  that  the 
countess  was  very  deeply  attached  to  her  sovereign, 
and  he  very  deeply  reciprocated  her  feeling.  She 
became  his  constant  companion,  entirely  by  mutual 
desire,  and  wherever  he  went  the  countess  would 
be  asked  also.  There  was  a  certain  regardlessness 
about  their  constant  companionship,  and  of  course 
it  so  happened  (as  it  always  does  happen  among 
followers  of  royalty)  that  the  society  of  the  court 
pursued  them  with  all  the  zest  and  curiosity  of  a 
pack  of  hounds  on  the  hunt  for  prey.  A  romance 
between  a  king  and  a  beautiful  countess  was  con- 
sidered big  game,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  gaieties 
in  which  they  shared,  they  managed  to  watch,  to 
draw  conclusions,  to  bestow  their  criticism  upon 
the  two  who  were  most  concerned.  The  scandal, 
I  believe,  was  largely  created  by  those  who  make  a 
specialty  of  it,  although  there  were  plenty  of  rea- 
sons for  romantic  gossip.  Neither  His  Royal 
Highness  nor  the  Countess  seemed  to  pay  the 
slightest  attention  to  criticism  which  must  have 
reached  her  if  it  did  not  influence  him.  We  can 
take  into  account,  with  absolute  assurance,  the  fact 
that  they  were  intellectually  companionable.  Their 
social  tastes  were  the  same,  their  likes  and  dislikes 
—158— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

among  people,  places,  and  amusement  were  very 
similar.  His  Royal  Highness  was  particularly 
fond  of  music,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  it  at 
court.  All  through  his  life  one  of  the  Prince's 
chief  pleasures  was  music.  The  countess  really 
was  a  great  musician,  and  this  I  think  was  a  bond 
of  sympathy  and  understanding  between  them. 
Her  beauty  was  really  so  startling  and  so  perfect 
that  there  were  innumerable  portraits  in  oil  made 
of  her  by  famous  painters,  and  there  were  also 
many  rude  drawings  and  caricatures  made  for  the 
benefit  of  her  friends.  These  caricatures  were  not 
always  of  a  character  to  inspire  good  taste, — but 
these  artists  did  not  attempt  to  immortalise  her 
beauty  in  them,  they  were  probably  willing  to  leave 
that  for  others.  One  may  cavil  at  the  redundancy 
of  treatment,  at  the  flamboyant  style  in  which  some 
of  these  portraits  were  made,  and  one  could  smile 
at  the  weaker  and  puerile  adulations  suggested 
when  the  countess  was  painted  in  the  form  of  some 
classic  and  symbolic  figure,  as  a  goddess  perhaps. 
There  was,  of  course,  every  excuse  for  these  exag- 
gerations because  of  the  splendid  opulence  both  of 
form  and  colour  which  she  unassailably  presented. 
She  was  a  luxurious  beauty,  with  a  fine  taste  in 
art.     Her  sumptuous  castle  was  filled  with  ex- 

—159— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

quisite  marble  statuary.  Her  parties  in  the  coun- 
try were  glorious.  Her  gardens  were  veritable 
retreats  for  Cupid,  filled  with  grottoes,  with  yew 
trees,  trimmed  in  all  sorts  of  grotesque  figures.  A 
charming,  restful  spot.  In  her  beautiful  castle 
was  a  miniature  theatre  in  case  the  peace  of  heaven 
which  surrounded  these  beautiful  gardens  and  the 
distant  landscape  should  become  tiresome  to  the 
guests.  Usually,  there  was  a  delicious  stillness  in 
the  ah*,  broken  alone  by  the  songbirds  in  the  shrub- 
bery, or  the  music  of  the  fountains  in  the  distance. 
The  castle  itself  became  a  show  place,  and  people 
flocked  to  see  it,  especially  when  upon  great  occa- 
sion the  grounds  were  gloriously  illuminated.  The 
people  themselves,  as  royalty  described  them  some- 
times, the  common  people,  paid  the  beautiful  coun- 
tess great  homage.  In  fact,  the  ladies  of  the  court, 
of  her  own  age,  and  those  of  a  more  delightful  old 
age,  assumed  a  discreet  ignorance  of  her  many 
amours.  The  conversation  about  her  was  always 
associated  with  intellectual  and  literary  qualities. 
The  countess  herself  was  a  woman  of  many  gifts. 
Her  earlier  years  were  passed  in  a  married  life 
that  was  unassailable,  peaceful,  cultivated.  She  was 
an  out-door  woman,  a  splendid  horsewoman,  and 
—160— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

she  loved  dogs.  She  was  rather  imperious,  in  fact 
insolent,  sometimes,  and  intolerant. 

Escoffier,  the  famous  chef,  who  cooked  so  many 
remarkable  dishes  for  the  royal  palace,  was  some- 
thing of  a  philosopher.  No  doubt  he  saw  a  good 
deal  of  the  real  romance,  for  it  was  the  custom  of 
the  king  to  go  with  the  countess  into  the  kitchen, 
to  be  tempted  there  by  some  mysterious  invention 
of  Escoffier's.  It  was  on  one  of  these  occasions 
that  Escoffier  is  credited  with  saying  to  His  Maj- 
esty something  that  sounds  cynical: 

"God  no  doubt  must  have  repented  01  haviftg 
made  man,  but  he  could  never  have  done  so  for  hav- 
ing made  woman,"  he  said.  I  am  told  that  the  re- 
lations between  these  two  wonderful  world  figures, 
the  countess  and  the  king,  were  really  profoundly 
idealistic.  His  Majesty  called  the  countess,  "My 
heart,"  and  the  countess,  in  her  most  intimate  mood 
towards  the  king,  called  him  "My  soul."  They 
would  take  long  walks  together  in  the  grounds  of 
the  castle,  and  at  the  end  of  the  walk  they  would 
disappear  into  the  kitchen,  where  Escoffier  would 
give  them  extraordinary  refreshment.  Of  course, 
the  prince  was  delighted,  entertained,  and  full  of 
admiration  for  this  beautiful  woman.  These  were 
the  days  when  she  was  in  high  favour.    He  was  so 

—161— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

completely  flattered  that  he  ignored  her  little  short- 
comings, and  listened  sometimes  to  the  amusing 
stories  concerning  gossip  of  the  court,  which  he 
could  tell  better  than  anyone  else.  The  people 
were  talking  a  great  deal  at  this  time  about  His 
Royal  Highness  and  the  countess,  and  a  good  deal 
of  this  criticism  must  have  disturbed  her,  for  it  af- 
fected the  future  of  her  son  and  her  daughter. 
Still,  to  a  certain  extent,  fearful  of  some  outside  in- 
fluence that  should  bear  down  upon  her  and  disturb 
her  royal  romance,  she  realised  that  she  could  not 
expect  a  moral  inspiration  from  the  illicit  love  af- 
fair with  the  king.  Besides,  she  was  so  fond  of 
admiration  and  of  power,  she  was  so  dominant,  and 
followed  always  the  precepts  of  convention  only  in 
a  spirit  of  defiance,  that  it  was  only  in  after  years 
she  realised  perhaps  that  it  would  have  been  better 
had  she  chosen  to  be  more  moderate.  Her  keen 
intuition  served  her  well  in  scattering  the  possible 
rivals  of  her  romance  as  they  came  along.  It  was 
with  reluctance  she  assumed  this  position  in  the  bat- 
tle of  sentiment  against  other  women.  The  misery 
of  thought  which  the  end  of  this  romance  brought 
to  her  is  something  that  the  world  at  large  has  not 
given  her  credit  for.  She  was  only  defeated  in 
her  romance  because  owing  to  her  rank  and  posi- 
—162— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

tion  she  wished  to  avoid  public  scandal.  An  aris- 
tocratic woman,  she  was  also  a  loving  woman,  and 
because  she  was  an  aristocrat  she  dared  not  fret  at 
the  change  which  came  over  her  romance,  and  she 
steeled  herself  against  the  disaster  of  time  and 
years.  There  was  not  a  more  popular  man  in 
England  than  the  Prince  of  Wales.  He  was  kind- 
hearted  to  a  fault,  and  in  this  weakness  of  virtue, 
his  liaison  with  the  countess  became  no  longer  so 
satisfactory.  I  am  afraid  His  Royal  Highness 
was  a  true  butterfly  of  fashion. 

There  is  perhaps  no  better  proof  of  the  sincerity 
and  depth  of  feeling  which  the  countess  had  for  His 
Royal  Highness,  than  the  following  anecdote,  be- 
cause it  confirms  the  hurt  which  a  woman  feels 
when  the  man  she  loves  fails  in  respect  to  her.  It 
is  recorded  that  His  Royal  Highness  entered  the 
room  where  she  was,  unannounced,  and  rather  has- 
tily. 

"What  on  earth  is  the  matter,  sir,  you  frightened 
me,"  the  countess  said. 

"I  cannot  be  so  particular,"  said  the  prince  peev- 
ishly, and  his  brusque  manner  and  conduct  startled 
her.  His  manner  was  definite  but  distinctly  with- 
out sentiment.     He  said  to  her  something  like  this : 

"You  and  I  have  always  been  great  chums,  and 

—163— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

you  have  been  very  good  to  me,  thoroughly  reliable, 
as  sincere  as  any  man  friend  could  have  been." 

This  was  not  the  manner  of  love,  and  the  coun- 
tess, regarding  it  as  a  humorous  mood,  attempted 
to  laugh  it  off. 

"Why  all  these  compliments,  there  must  be  an- 
other motive."  She  became  restless,  surmising 
what  was  to  come.  His  Royal  Highness  rang  for 
tea, — not  a  powerful  restorative,  but  an  excuse  for 
boredom.  Then,  with  a  winning  smile,  he  lighted 
a  cigarette  and  began  a  course  of  conversation  in 
which  he  had  no  doubt  become  expert  through 
many  previous  experiences  of  the  same  sort.  The 
countess  displayed  the  disaster  to  her  feelings 
which  this  situation  created,  and  she  also  realised 
that  her  display  of  feeling  was  exasperating  to  His 
Royal  Highness.  It  dawned  upon  her  that  sooner 
or  later  some  great  scandal  would  add  to  the  bit- 
terness of  her  disappointment,  which  he  made  clear 
to  her.  His  Royal  Highness  left,  and  to  a  friend 
the  countess  described  the  shuddering  loneliness 
which  overcame  her  as  she  saw  the  beginning  of  the 
end.  The  crisis  came  soon.  The  countess  started 
violent  flirtations,  knowing  well  that  a  famous  ac- 
tress had  supplanted  her.  To  His  Royal  High- 
ness the  incident  was  only  one  of  many  drawing 
—164— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

room  intrigues,  and  served  to  give  a  little  zest  to 
his  existence.  Perhaps  he  may,  or  he  may  not  have 
discerned  the  sincerity  of  her  passion  and  her  love 
for  him,  but  he  was  coldly  though  charmingly  ir- 
responsive. I  am  sure  that  the  countess  thought 
in  the  prince  she  had  met  her  fate,  and  in  accepting 
the  end  of  this  romance,  she  expressed  a  gratitude 
for  knowing  that  it  had  not  been  true  before  it  was 
too  late.  Beautiful  and  idealistic  as  the  motive  of 
a  woman  in  love  may  be,  the  failure  of  them  always 
brings  an  ugly  end.  So  the  beautiful  countess  be- 
came the  target  of  outrageous  slander  and  unspar- 
ing scandal.  Even  after  the  separation  had  been 
generally  known  and  accepted,  even  though  mis- 
representation and  calumny  had  somewhat  blurred 
the  true  memory,  I  believe  that  love  such  as  these 
two  felt  was  really  a  most  uncommon  devotion. 
Because  of  its  truth  and  beauty,  it  created  great 
jealousies,  many  misunderstandings  among  the 
stupid  public,  and  the  countess  was  obliged  to  suf- 
fer the  revenge  of  the  world  against  the  woman 
who  had  been  happy  in  spite  of  herself.  Most  of 
the  stories  were  false,  most  of  them  were  cruel  lies, 
but  how  could  they  be  denied?  The  countess  did 
not  see  fit  to  give  proof  of  these  calumnies,  nor 
would  have  deigned  to  do  so. 

—165— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

I  recall  the  many  times  it  was  my  pleasure  to  see 
the  beautiful  countess  in  recent  years,  and  she  gave 
me  the  impression  that  she  harboured  no  ill-will. 
She  was  perhaps  cognisant  of  the  fact  that  His 
Royal  Highness,  to  say  the  least,  had  piqued  her. 
She  was  also  conscious  that  the  field  over  which  she 
had  reigned  with  such  personal  pleasure  and  glory 
was  now  open  to  all  comers.  She  retired  most 
graciously,  most  gracefully.  With  fine  diplomacy 
she  poured  oil  on  the  troubled  waters  of  her  ro- 
mance, but  she  was  continually  looking  out  for  an 
occasion  to  revenge  herself  upon  the  woman  who 
had  supplanted  her.  The  latter's  only  crime  was 
to  do  exactly  what  His  Royal  Highness  desired 
above  all  things,  which  the  beautiful  countess  her- 
self had  so  generously  permitted.  Then  too,  the 
countess  really  had  no  reason  to  challenge  her 
rival's  affection  for  the  prince  on  grounds  that  she 
had  deserted  another  man  for  him.  The  spirit  of 
revenge,  however,  expressed  itself  violently  one 
day  in  the  hunting  field  adjoining  the  magnificent 
castle.  Both  the  countess  and  her  rival  were  in  the 
party.  It  was  a  glorious  autumnal  morning,  the 
air  was  crisp  with  that  invigorating  atmosphere. 
The  countess  was  riding  leisurely  out  of  her 
grounds  to  the  meet,  when  in  the  distance  she  saw 
—166— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

His  Royal  Highness  talking  and  laughing,  and 
especially  attentive  to  his  new  love.  For  some  time 
he  had  been  bestowing  his  attention  upon  two  peer- 
esses but  he  had  transferred  them  recently  to  the 
little  marchioness  who  reciprocated  his  sentiment 
most  graciously.  It  was  this  charming  little  court 
beauty  whom  the  countess  saw  from  a  distance. 
She  urged  her  horse  furiously  forward,  and  rode 
pellmell  upon  the  marchioness.  The  horses  clashed 
and  the  riding  whips  flung  in  the  air  just  as  the 
lances  of  old  did  their  havoc  among  the  warriors 
of  England.  His  Royal  Highness  rushed  between 
them,  and  after  much  difficulty  succeeded  in  sep- 
arating the  ladies.  The  countess  in  a  measure  was 
defeated  and  the  little  marchioness  had  the  field 
to  herself.  Some  time  later  the  marchioness  lost 
her  foot  through  an  accident  in  a  motor  in  Paris. 
I  believe  that  this  accident  has  not  deprived  her  of 
her  charm  or  her  beauty.  She  still  rides  superbly, 
and  was  most  happy  and  contented  when  I  last 
saw  her.  The  scar  across  her  face  which  the  coun- 
tess' riding  whip  inflicted  soon  healed,  but  the  scar 
in  the  heart  of  the  countess  still  prevails,  I  fear. 
This  episode  considerably  chastened  the  gossips,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  the  countess.  But  the 
marchioness   also  became  extremely   careful,    for 

—167— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

the  countess  had  made  it  clear  that  she  would  never 
forgive  her  rival's  temerity. 

The  countess  will  remain  in  the  memory  of  those 
who  saw  her  from  a  distance,  and  of  those  who 
knew  her  well,  as  one  of  the  most  lovable  creatures 
among  the  beautiful  women  of  the  Court  of  St. 
James.  Of  course,  the  exquisite  laces  and  frou- 
frous which  it  was  my  privilege  to  create  for  the 
countess  were  of  such  an  alluring  character  that 
they  would  have  assured  the  surrender  of  any  man, 
beggar  or  king.  She  affected  clinging,  filmy 
nothings  of  great  price,  and  her  charms  were 
greatly  enhanced  by  the  least  possible  artifice  of 
the  dressmaker.  She  moved  with  such  wonderful 
grace  that  her  presence  was  always  a  sensation. 

The  footprints  of  great  men  who  pursued  the 
countess  will  probably  never  be  entirely  obliterated, 
although  the  winds  of  time  have  scattered  them  a 
little.  She  had  a  wild  and  vivid  experience  with 
great  men  who  were  stern  but  weak.  She  scalped 
most  of  them  with  supreme  art.  Who  can  tell 
what  cards  a  woman  plays,  since  she  rarely  plays 
them  openly.  The  king  of  hearts  may  often  be 
well  hidden,  or  he  may  be  the  joker,  or  the  knave; 
if  the  game  was  worth  the  candle,  it  does  not  mat- 
ter. One  thing  I  have  observed  that  women  of  the 
—168— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

aristocracy  who  become  involved  in  secret  romance, 
hold  their  own  better  than  any  other  class  of 
women.  The  "fallen"  aristocrat  never  steps  from 
her  pedestal  of  aristocracy,  she  never  tumbles  with 
broken  bones,  only  with  a  few  shattered  illusions, 
which  have  not  affected  her  self-respect. 

Such  a  woman  was  the  countess,  whose  sensa- 
tional romance  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  made  the 
world  of  gossip  swing  a  little  faster,  especially  the 
society  world  of  London  and  of  England. 

Did  they  count  the  consequences,  I  wonder,  or 
care  about  them? 

I  very  much  doubt  it.  Certainly  His  Royal 
Highness  did  not  suffer  very  greatly,  for  his  tastes 
had  the  surprising  indifference  of  variety.  In  his 
romantic  episodes  one  could  easily  take  him  for 
Henry  IV  or  Louis  XIV.  None  of  the  women  of 
the  Court  of  St.  James,  whom  I  gowned,  frequently 
for  the  special  delight  of  His  Royal  Highness,  were 
comparable  for  inspiration  to  the  beautiful  coun- 
tess. It  was  like  receiving  an  order  to  fill  the  heart 
as  well  as  the  eye  of  the  king,  to  prepare  the  beauti- 
ful countess  in  a  toilette  he  would  admire.  One 
gown  I  remember  in  particular  because  His  Royal 
Highness  pronounced  it  as  the  prettiest  bit  of 
daintiness  the  countess  ever  wore.     It  was  the  most 

—169— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

superb  Duchess  satin  of  grey  pearl  with  a  corsage 
a  la  Louis  XV  in  the  palest  rose  colour  miroir  vel- 
vet. Square  collar  of  batiste  with  an  edging  of 
point  de  Flanders,  and  the  corsage  was  held  with 
buttons  of  coral  and  diamonds.  The  ceinture  was 
of  black  moire  scniple.  With  this  Her  Ladyship 
wore  a  large  picture  Leghorn  hat  trimmed  with  a 
garland  of  (Baroness  de  Rothschild)  roses,  grey 
suede  shoes  with  diamond  buckles  a  la  Cromwell, 
a  parasol  entirely  made  of  rose  leaves,  with  a  han- 
dle of  corals,  and  her  monogram  in  diamonds  on 
the  stick.  Her  mantelet  was  indeed  wonderful,  it 
was  entirely  of  grey  pearl  chiffon  ninon,  the  entire 
lining  being  rose  leaves  which  fluttered  in  the  wind 
and  when  walking  gave  the  most  wonderful  effect. 
She  certainly  looked  superb.  I  copied  it  for  an- 
other grande  dame  of  the  Court  in  white  and  lilac. 
Of  course,  the  wearer  of  this  second  edition  was 
less  interesting  but  more  important,  if  such  a  thing 
could  be  possible. 

A  tea  gown  which  I  made  for  the  Countess  was 
perhaps  the  most  beautiful  thing  I  ever  put  forth 
from  my  house.  It  was  a  copy  adopted  from 
Queen  Victoria's  coronation  toilette.  The  under- 
garment Avas  in  the  finest  white  crepe  de  chine  with 
—170— 


A  ROYAL  LOVE  AFFAIR 

an  overmantle  of  the  finest  Burano  lace  with  em- 
broideries of  topaz,  opals  and  chains  of  pearls,  with 
a  clasp,  which  held  the  mantle  on  the  breast,  of 
emeralds,  turquoise,  rubies  and  uncut  sapphires. 


-171 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS  OF  KING  EDWARD'S 

REIGN 

Musical  comedy  has  been  the  nursery  of  many 
peerages,  the  cradle  of  many  aristocratic  wives  who 
were  chosen  from  the  chorus.  The  ballet  and  the 
refined  burlesque  were  the  theatrical  food  upon 
which  the  aristocracy  of  England  flourished. 

There  are  still  many  who  remember  those  stars 
of  the  earlier  days  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  There 
were  Nellie  Farren,  Lydia  Thompson,  Violet  Cam- 
eron, Florence  St.  John,  Lettv  Lind.  To  these 
meteors  of  this  early  period  of  the  theatre  within 
my  recollection,  were  applied  the  slang  compli- 
ments of  the  period.  These  ladies  were,  for  in- 
stance, "Tophole,"  they  were  "Swishy."  It  was 
one  of  the  joys  of  life  to  hear  them  sing  and  dance 
such  little  ditties  as: 

"I  am  a  swell, 
You  can  tell, 

And  behave,  of  course,  as  such, 
—172— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

Close  cut  hair, 

Elbows  square, 

With  my  toothpick  and  my  crutch." 

It  was  after  the  theatre  that  those  delightful  lit- 
tle supper  parties  were  held  at  Cremorne  Garden, 
or  at  the  Argyle  Rooms.  At  these  parties  the 
Prince  of  Wales  would  attend  incognito. 

Later,  when  he  was  king,  and  the  formalities  of 
his  rank  had  to  be  fulfilled,  his  aide-de-camp  would 
wire  or  telephone  to  the  box  office,  and  the  royal 
box  would  be  reserved  for  him.  Usually  it  was 
decorated  with  a  bouquet  of  flowers,  so  that  the 
public  always  knew  at  once  that  the  performance 
would  be  graced  by  the  king  and  queen,  or  the 
royalty.  At  Covent  Garden,  where  grand  opera 
was  given,  there  was  always  a  royal  box  exclusively 
reserved,  and  the  omnibus  box,  as  it  was  called, 
where  His  Majesty  invited  all  his  intimate  friends 
to  join  him  or  call  upon  him  between  the  acts.  The 
king  was  always  most  punctilious  to  arrive  at  the 
beginning,  and  to  remain  till  the  end.  But  the 
opera  had  always  been  the  centre  of  social  glory 
and  splendour,  whether  in  London  or  in  New 
York. 

I  am  convinced  that  modern  beauty  will  never 
compare  favourably  with  those  regal  ancestors  of 

—173— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

hers,  who  passed  in  and  out  of  my  salon  in  the 
House  of  Frederic.  It  is  my  regret,  that  one  no 
longer  encounters  those  convincing  beauties  of  ele- 
gance and  charm  of  the  last  century,  who  remain  so 
vividly  in  my  mind. 

I  observe  to-day  that  the  rage  for  beauty,  vul- 
garly expressed,  is  "flapper"  type.  They  at 
least  do  not  require  much  study  to  gown 
them.  The  immature  and  inchoate  baby  type  is 
far  from  convincing,  and  requires  little  exertion 
from  an  artist  in  dress.  In  America  the  "flapper" 
type  has  perhaps  been  more  fully  recognised  than 
in  Europe.  American  taste  in  dress  seems  to  pan- 
der to  all  the  senses,  keeping  in  view  the  fads  and 
fancies  of  the  hour,  leaving  what  might  be  called 
the  real  artistic  business  of  dress  to  take  care  of 
itself.  Perhaps  the  theatres  have  something  to  do 
with  this  deterioration  of  good  taste  and  beauty. 
Years  ago,  even  chorus  girls  in  such  plays  as  the 
famous  Gaiety  Theatre  in  London  provided,  were 
aristocratic  in  appearance.  Many  of  them  mar- 
ried into  the  British  aristocracy,  but  the  "flapper" 
type  was  not  among  them. 

I  remember  well  in  the  early  eighties,  when  the 
artists  of  the  Comedie  Francaise  first  came  to  Lon- 
don, when  Moliere  came  to  salute  Shakespeare. 
—174— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

What  a  bouquet  of  glorious  women! 

The  divine  Sarah,  willowy  and  slender,  with  her 
golden  voice,  appeared  in  "Phedre,"  wearing  those 
pure  white  robes  draped  in  classical  folds.  She 
impressed  herself  upon  my  mind  as  a  classical  fig- 
ure. I  never  could  or  would  admit  that  she  looked 
as  well  in  modern  garments  as  in  her  gorgeous 
Greek  or  Roman  vestments.  Her  whole  personal- 
ity seemed  to  change  with  modern  dress;  that  sub- 
tle, glorious,  sphinx-like  movement,  seemed  ham- 
pered in  up-to-date  lines. 

The  divine  Sarah,  though  the  greatest  actress 
in  the  world,  has  her  weaknesses  and  her  shadows. 
She  is  absolutely  one  of  the  most  extravagant  and 
most  marvellous  creatures  of  the  century.  Noth- 
ing daunted  her;  lions  and  tigers  were  her  com- 
panions, for  years  she  travelled  with  her  coffin. 
These  may  be  fictitious  facts,  but  they  establish  her 
originality  and  capability.  She  designed  most  of 
her  gowns  herself.  They  were  scrupulously  car- 
ried out  under  her  direction.  The  embroideries, 
for  instance,  of  her  darling  "Fedora"  were  really 
great  works  of  art.  I  saw  them  in  the  making  at 
a  famous  embroidery  house  in  Paris,  where  I  had 
gone  to  choose  some  designs.  The  "Fedora" 
gowns  were  exquisite,  the  jewels  alone  used  in  them 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

being  valued  at  20,000  francs.  One  gown  was  de- 
signed exactly  upon  the  principle  of  a  Cardinal's 
vestment.  In  private  life,  Sarah  is  as  emotional 
as  she  is  on  the  stage.  She  adores  her  son,  whose 
father,  it  is  said,  is  a  Prince.  Every  one  knows  how 
intensely  patriotic  the  great  actress  is,  and  when 
the  Kaiser  finally  succeeded  in  persuading  her  to 
come  to  Berlin,  she  could  not  restrain  her  feelings. 

"Of  course,"  she  said,  "great  minds  must  meet 
sooner  or  later." 

How  well  these  great  minds  each  have  played 
their  part,  how  fantastically  they  are  the  creatures 
of  wonder  of  the  age!  Both  have  stirred  the  hemi- 
sphere, one  upon  the  stage  in  theatrical  drama,  and 
one  upon  the  world's  stage  in  a  stupendous  drama 
in  history.  Who  will  receive  the  greatest  applause 
of  humanity  at  large  when  these  two  world  figures 
make  their  final  bow? 

You  must  forgive  me  the  little  cynicisms  that  will 
creep  into  my  narrative,  in  spite  of  all  I  can  do  to 
restrain  criticism.  Perhaps  I  dwell  too  much  upon 
personality,  expect  too  much  of  it,  but  I  speak  from 
experience  and  not  surmise. 

The  animal  charm  of  Croizette,  one  of  the  beau- 
ties of  the  Comedie  Francaise,  excited  an  extrava- 
gance in  dress  that  I  deplored.  Her  physique,  en- 
—176— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

hancing  as  it  did  her  toilettes,  created  extravagant 
admiration  of  her  among  a  class  of  women  who 
dwell  upon  dress  and  its  accessories  as  a  sort  of 
sacrament  of  beauty,  a  religion.  Croizette  mar- 
ried the  rich  banker,  Monsieur  Jules  Stern,  which 
was  a  desirable  apotheosis  to  her  brilliant  life,  but 
she  was  always  too  extravagant.  All  women  are 
not  in  position  to  give  full  swing  to  their  extrava- 
gance, and  therefore  Croizette  was  a  visible  tempta- 
tion to  them.  There  are  many  women  for  whom 
simple  garments  are  more  refined  than  the  spec- 
tacular clothes,  and  yet  not  less  costly.  A  piece  of 
point  de  Flanders  or  point  de  Venise,  an  old 
world  batiste  used  as  a  fichu,  with  a  taupe  crepe  de 
chine  gown,  will  often  run  to  three  figures. 

Most  of  these  women  of  the  Comedie  Francaise 
were  really  great  artists,  however,  and  one  cannot 
speak  of  them  with  anything  but  a  sense  of  grati- 
tude for  their  devotion  to  their  great  work. 

There  was  Madame  Baretta,  charming  Baretta, 
the  tragic  death  of  whose  only  son  practically  ended 
her  career.  She  withdrew  from  the  world  after 
this,  and  lived  only  a  few  years  longer,  to  the  sor- 
row of  those  who  adored  her. 

As  my  establishment  was  in  London,  it  was  my 
privilege,  naturally,  to  gown  many  of  the  cele- 

—177— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

brated  English  actresses  of  to-day  and  yesterday. 

Lady  George  Alexander,  wife  of  Sir  George 
Alexander,  of  the  St.  James  Theatre,  London,  was 
a  delight  to  a  dressmaker,  because  she  had  the 
greatest  talent  for  dress  herself.  When  she  was 
still  Mrs.  George  Alexander,  and  together  we  were 
choosing  the  colour  schemes  and  styles  for  a  new 
production,  she  always  had  abnormally  bright  ideas 
of  her  own,  which  happily  enough  we  were  able  to 
carry  out  to  perfection.  She  always  dressed  ex- 
quisitely; it  was  inherited  from  her  French  blood, 
and  her  influence  dominated  the  good  clothes  of  the 
numerous  plays  that  were  so  successfully  produced 
at  the  St.  James  Theatre. 

Lady  Alexander  would  spend  days  in  my  estab- 
lishment, rummaging  over  the  most  lovely  mate- 
rials, laces,  embroideries,  embroidered  batistes  and 
trimmings.  These  were  very  hilarious  occasions 
for  us  both,  and  our  laughter  very  often  disturbed 
one  or  another  of  the  grand  ladies  waiting  in  my 
reception  room,  and  who  were  formally  and  pa- 
tiently awaiting  their  turns  to  be  attended  to. 

Miss  Marion  Terry,  I  recall  also  as  one  of  my 
very  charming  customers,  Miss  Eva  Moore,  Miss 
Granville,  and  Miss  Julie  Opp,  who  were  all  mem- 
bers of  the  company  at  the  St.  James  Theatre. 
—178— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

Sir  George  Alexander  came  over  himself  one  day 
to  see  me,  and  paid  a  very  graceful  compliment 
when  he  said  that  he  understood  why  Her  Ladyship 
spent  so  much  time  with  me. 

It  was  in  the  early  eighties  that  Lady  Beerbohm 
Tree,  then  Mrs.  Tree,  first  came  to  me.  She  was 
then  not  quite  so  distinguished  in  her  style  and 
mode  as  she  is  to-day,  but  I  remember  she  liked  my 
gowns.  To-day  her  great  friends,  the  Duchess  of 
Rutland  and  Lady  Marjorie  Manners,  have 
adopted  styles  of  individual  gowning,  which  have 
failed  to  convince  the  modern  woman,  however,  who 
is  apt  to  consider  them  eccentric. 

The  success  of  the  gowns  I  made  for  the  produc- 
tion of  Oscar  Wilde's  play,  "Lady  Windermere's 
Fan,"  in  London,  brought  about  an  overwhelming 
business  for  me  in  the  theatrical  world.  This  was 
a  production  made  at  the  Haymarket  Theatre  by 
Sir  Beerbohm  Tree.  Lady  Tree  was  one  of  those 
esthetic  looking  women,  with  a  very  definite  indi- 
viduality. Neither  of  her  daughters  resemble  her 
in  the  least.  Her  eldest  daughter,  I  understand, 
has  returned  to  the  stage,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  she  married  well,  and  for  love. 

Miss  Fay  Davis  and  Miss  Granville,  of  St. 
James  Theatre,  were  among  the  beauties  of  dis- 

—179— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

tinctly  English  style.  Miss  Davis,  who  was  very 
distingue  looking,  became  a  very  great  favourite  in 
London,  acting  many  years  for  St.  George  Alex- 
ander. The  gowns  I  created  for  her  she  wore  with 
a  great  deal  of  distinction.  I  can  still  see  her  in  a 
white  tulle  ball  gown,  very  full,  with  fringes 
of  iridescent  pearls  showered  like  dewdrops.  Miss 
Granville  made  a  sensation  in  a  princess  robe 
of  orange  velvet  mousseline  embroidered  with  dia- 
monds. I  subsequently  made  a  copy  of  this  gown, 
which  I  designed  for  Miss  Granville,  for  Her 
Majesty  the  Queen  of  England,  in  blue  Sevres  and 
variegated  blue  stones. 

Pretty  little  Eva  Moore,  who  married  Henry 
Esmond,  the  playwright  (perhaps  because  she 
knew  that  he  would  write  such  charming  plays  for 
her),  was  a  spoiled  child  of  the  English  theatre- 
going  public,  as  were  her  sisters.  She  was  very 
dainty  and  very  pretty.  I  remember  trying  on  a 
little  grass-green  linen  gown  I  had  made  for  her, 
to  be  worn  in  her  husband's  play,  "The  Wilder- 
ness." 

"They  will  surely  make  a  meal  of  me,"  she  said 
laughingly. 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "if  you  dare  to  go  too  near  the 
—180— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

footlights  they  might  take  you  for  a  delicious  cab- 
bage in  cream." 

I  believe  that  Eva  Moore  in  a  little  linen  lawn 
tennis  gown  which  she  so  well  knew  how  to  wear, 
really  made  me  celebrated. 

I  shall  always  feel  that  I  contributed  something 
to  the  success  of  a  great  prima  donna,  Madame  Al- 
bani,  at  Covent  Garden,  in  that  brilliant  first  per- 
formance of  Verdi's  "Othello"  in  which  she  ap- 
peared with  the  athletic  tenor,  Tamagno.  Her 
toilettes  were  gorgeous,  the  embroideries  alone 
costing  over  two  hundred  guineas.  The  tea  gown 
of  pure  lace  du  Burano,  worn  when  the  Moor 
comes  to  her  couch  in  jealousy  to  slay  the  fair  Des- 
demona,  was  very  beautiful.  Tamagno  apologised 
to  me  afterwards  for  crushing  it. 

"It  was  really  too  lovely  to  smother  her  in  it," 
he  said.  "I  hesitated,  for  her  lines  were  so  exqui- 
site. I  hated  to  be  so  treacherous,  but  it  had  to  be 
done,  though  I  treated  your  work  very  gently." 

Even  a  Moor  of  Venice  can  be  chastened  by  such 
a  beautiful  dress. 

Two  other  great  artists  in  the  theatrical  world 
in  London,  whom  I  remember  so  well,  were  Ellen 
Terry  and  Lady  Bancroft.  Many  of  us  can  re- 
member what  a  really  versatile,  clever,  charming 

—181— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

actress  Lady  Bancroft  (Marie  Wilton)  was. 
When  she  appeared  in  "Diplomacy,"  London 
raved  about  her.  The  Prince  of  Wales  always  at- 
tended the  opening  of  the  Bancrofts.  She  was  not 
exactly  pretty,  but  very  magnetic.  It  was  Lady 
Bancroft  and  her  husband,  Sir  Squire  Bancroft, 
who  made  the  Haymarket  Theatre  famous. 

She  was  notoriously  difficult  to  please,  but  some- 
how or  other  I  always  scored  with  her.  She  was 
fond  of  me,  and  only  last  year  I  received  a  letter 
from  her  country  seat  near  Folkestone.  I  remem- 
ber once  a  session  with  her  which  lasted  five  long 
hours,  during  which  we  discussed  a  certain  colour 
scheme.  At  the  end  of  it  we  drove  to  the  theatre, 
and  saw  how  the  furniture  and  the  hangings  of  the 
scenes  would  harmonise  with  the  proposed  gown. 
Lady  Bancroft  being  rather  short  in  stature,  it  was 
often  difficult  to  carry  out  satisfactorily  her  own 
plans  for  her  toilettes.  However,  she  didn't  mind 
the  trouble  she  unconsciously  caused.  When  the 
gown  was  completed,  she  would  say  quite  pleas- 
antly : 

"If  you  don't  mind,  dear,  we  will  change  it  a 
little." 

Changing  it  a  little  meant  a  complete  recon- 
struction of  the  gown,  and  yards  of  silk,  velvet,  lace 
—182— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

and  embroidery  went  the  way  of  all  that  is  mortal. 
Yet,  one  did  please  her  after  all,  if  one  didn't  op- 
pose her  too  much. 

The  Bancrofts'  home  in  Berkeley  Square,  Lon- 
don, was  rather  curious.  Their  whole  staircase 
was  lined  with  caricatures  of  all  the  celebrities  of 
their  long  reign  in  London.  Du  Maurier,  Punch's 
great  artist,  is  responsible  for  most  of  them.  Sir 
Squire  Bancroft,  a  tall  figure  with  snow-white  hair, 
with  his  inevitable  monocle  in  his  eye,  is  still  a  strik- 
ing personality  in  London.  One  of  their  sons  died 
in  China,  having  married  a  daughter  of  the  famous 
Kembles.  I  believe  the  marriage  was  not  a  happy 
one,  for  they  were  divorced. 

Lady  Bancroft  is  a  devout  Catholic,  most  char- 
itable, and  has  done  a  great  deal  for  the  cause  of 
the  Allies.  She  still  holds  her  own,  is  still  satirical, 
witty  and  spirituelle.  Her  fame  has  not  vanished, 
although  she  retired  from  the  stage  some  years  ago. 
She  still  often  plays  for  charity. 

When  the  automobile  was  not  so  much  in  evi- 
dence, you  could  meet  the  Bancrofts,  like  Darby 
and  Joan,  driving  in  their  victoria,  drawn  by  two 
nice  Irish  cobs.  England  has  never  been  able  to 
replace  Mrs.  Bancroft.  She  had  her  own  peculiar 
style,  convincingly  serious,  screamingly  funny,  and 

—183— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

versatile.  Even  Queen  Victoria,  I  believe,  sent  for 
them  to  give  private  performances  at  Balmoral, 
and  King  Edward  was  one  of  the  earliest  admirers 
of  Her  Ladyship,  remaining  a  very  true  and 
staunch  friend  always.  The  Prince  of  Wales 
Theatre  was  where  Lady  Bancroft  became  famous, 
before  leasing  the  Haymarket  Theatre. 

Ellen  Terry,  the  paragon  of  English  tragedy, 
the  sweet  Juliet  of  Irving's  Romeo,  stirred  Lon- 
don, and  for  that  matter  America,  for  years.  We 
are  contemporaries,  and  we  have  met  on  and  off 
the  stage  for  many  years.  Her  sliding  movement 
when  she  greets  you,  her  alluring,  bewitching  smile, 
have  not  really  altered.  She  has  been,  I  believe,  a 
happy  woman,  and  all  the  homage  and  all  the 
adoration  she  has  received,  never  spoiled  her.  Her 
daughter  and  her  son  are  both  great  artists,  classic 
designers,  having  staged  many  pieces  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  cult.  Ellen  Terry  comes  of  a  wonder- 
ful family,  for  among  them  are  many  of  the  shin- 
ing lights  of  the  English  stage.  She  herself  was 
perhaps  the  most  graceful  figure  on  any  stage. 

Her  garments  were  always  part  of  her,  her  flow- 
ing robes  (for  she  never  wore  a  corset),  her  glid- 
ing movements,  sylph-like  in  their  grace,  always 
gave  me  the  impression  that  when  she  walked  she 
—184— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

never  touched  the  earth.  She  moved  so  stealthily, 
so  quickly,  and  yet  with  such  perfect  modulation. 
Creating  gowns  for  Ellen  Terry  was  always  an 
easy  matter  for  me.  She  would  come  to  my  studio, 
stretch  out  on  the  couch,  and  say  to  me : 

"Now,  dear,  what  shall  I  wear?" 

"Well,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  will  you  please  stand 
up  until  we  try  some  effect?"  I  would  say. 

"No,  dearie,  just  hang  some  material  around,  so 
that  I  can  look  at  it,  and  when  I  see  something  that 
strikes  my  imagination  I  will  get  up." 

Often  she  would  take  the  scissors  out  of  the  fit- 
ter's hands. 

"Let  me  show  you,"  she  would  say,  and  that 
would  end  it. 

She  was  angelically  sweet,  never  out  of  temper, 
erratic  in  the  extreme,  but  a  charming  woman. 
Whatever  I  created  for  her  was  always  a  joy  to 
me,  for  I  knew  I  was  garbing  an  artist,  a  superb 
woman. 

Those  piquant  little  stories  of  her  early  life  may 
have  some  truth  in  them  or  may  not.  We  are  all 
well  aware  that  the  greater  our  success,  the  greater 
the  number  of  our  enemies.  I  presume  that  is  her 
case.     I  know  that  the  great  grief  of  her  life  came 

—185— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

when  Sir  Henry  Irving  and  she  severed  a  life-long 
friendship. 

I  shall  always  maintain  that  it  was  Ellen  Terry 
who  made  Irving  famous.  It  was  she  who  called 
forth  the  divine  fire  in  him,  which  was  certainly  dor- 
mant until  she  fanned  the  flickering  flame  into  a 
bright  and  shining  light.  For  doing  this,  it  seems 
to  me  ingratitude  was  her  fate,  as  it  is  with  many 
others.  The  fickleness  and  vagaries  of  fortune  be- 
set many  of  us,  and  Ellen  Terry  was  no  exception. 
I  love  her  very  much,  she  is  such  a  human,  kind 
creature,  and  I  wish  her  well  to  the  end  of  the  chap- 
ter. 

One  cannot  leave  this  period  of  extraordinary 
genius  in  the  English  theatre  without  referring  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  to  Harry  Montague,  the 
ideal  of  young  hearts,  Ada  Lewis,  Hugh  Con- 
way, and  many  others.  Mrs.  Kendal  was  always 
spoken  of  in  whispers,  because  one  always  feared 
saying  something  that  would  shock  her  exquisite 
sensibilities.  She  was  rather  a  tall,  majestic-look- 
ing woman,  when  she  was  Madge  Robertson.  She 
and  her  husband  played  together  for  so  many  years 
that  one  never  dreamed  of  separating  them  by 
thought  or  word.  Mrs.  Kendal's  favourite  stage 
trick  was  to  turn  her  back  to  the  audience,  for  in 
—186— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

evening  dress  she  had  a  very  beautiful  back.  Mr. 
Kendal,  I  believe,  must  have  been  a  sort  of  Egyp- 
tian sphinx  inwardly,  because  he  was  never  known 
to  express  an  opinion,  or  to  speak  to  another  wo- 
man except  his  wife.  He  was  very  handsome,  but 
I  am  sure  he  never  would  have  dared  to  suggest 
appearing  with  any  other  actress,  save  his  wife,  for 
it  would  have  been  the  worse  for  him,  so  active 
was  the  green-eyed  monster  in  the  heart  of  beauti- 
ful Madge  Kendal.  There  was  never  a  word  of 
criticism  concerning  the  purity  and  domestic  per- 
fection of  their  lives. 

I  believe  that  Madge  Robertson  really  made  an 
actor  of  Mr.  Kendal ;  at  any  rate,  he  learned  every- 
thing he  knew  about  acting  from  her.  I  have  also 
always  thought  that  Ellen  Terry,  that  supple,  co- 
bra-like woman,  made  Sir  Henry  Irving.  She 
adored  him  and  always  quoted  him  as  her  guiding 
star.  Perhaps  he  was,  but  I  do  not  share  her  opin- 
ion. In  later  years  he  devoted  a  good  deal  of  time 
to  that  little  woman  who  wrote  for  Vanity  Fair. 
It  was  a  decided  decadence  in  good  taste,  she  was 
such  a  direct  contradiction  to  the  marvellous  per- 
sonality of  the  great  tragedienne. 

It  took  some  little  time  before  King  Edward 
showed  any  interest  in  the  Alexanders  at  the  St. 

—187— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

James  Theatre,  but  he  was  finally  induced  to  pa- 
tronise it  from  time  to  time  by  Her  Royal  High- 
ness the  Duchess  of  Fife. 

Of  course,  many  of  us  to-day  remember  that 
exquisite  woman  Ada  Cavendish,  who  made  such 
a  sensation  in  a  version  of  Wilkie  Collins'  "The 
New  Magdalen."  The  Prince  of  Wales  in  his 
younger  days  greatly  admired  her.  She  married 
Captain  Marshall,  the  playwright.  People  were 
much  more  eager  for  the  theatre  in  those  days  than 
they  are  now;  it  was  before  the  horrible  advent  of 
those  terrible  moving  pictures.  I  remember  the 
crowds  that  used  to  go  to  the  Prince  of  Wales 
Theatre  in  Oxford  Street,  to  see  those  fine  actors, 
Rignold,  Warner,  Wilson  Barrett,  in  those  spec- 
tacular melodramas  once  so  dear  to  the  British 
heart.  Then  there  was  William  Terriss,  that  hand- 
some actor  who  was  stabbed  to  death  by  a  madman 
at  the  stage  door  of  the  Adelphi  Theatre  one  night 
in  London,  where  he  had  been  making  an  enor- 
mous success  in  an  English  melodrama  called 
"Harbour  Lights."  His  pretty  daughter,  Ellaline 
Terriss,  who  married  Seymour  Hicks,  danced  her- 
self into  favour  with  the  king  in  a  foolish  little  ditty 
called  "A  Little  Bit  of  String."  She  is  still  a 
great  favourite  with  the  theatre  public. 
—188— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

I  cannot  fail  to  mention  Fred  Terry,  Ellen 
Terry's  brother,  and  his  charming  wife,  Julia  Neil- 
son.  Her  beauty  was  indeed  ravishing.  Then 
there  was  Cyril  Maude,  who,  with  his  clever  wife, 
pleased  London  with  his  smug  smartness  in  com- 
edy. Who  can  forget  Oscar  Asche  and  Lily 
Brayton,  his  wife,  in  their  magnificent  production 
of  "Kismet."  One  could  write  a  volume  about 
the  English  actors  and  actresses  of  my  period  in 
London,  but  I  have  mentioned  only  those  who  re- 
ceived royal  favour. 

A  number  of  English  actresses  who  married  in 
the  peerage,  and  a  number  of  peers'  sons  who  went 
on  the  stage,  have  perhaps  been  responsible  for  the 
impression  that  King  Edward  regarded  the  the- 
atre as  part  of  the  fashion  of  the  court.  This  is 
entirely  erroneous,  because  although  His  Majesty 
was  always  courteous,  and  personally  rather  fond 
of  the  players,  he  never  allowed  an  actress  to  be 
presented  at  court.  I  doubt  whether  he  approved 
of  the  theatre  as  a  profession,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  several  of  the  chorus  girls  of  the  Gaiety  The- 
atre married  into  the  peerage.  The  Marchioness  of 
Headford,  for  instance,  was  formerly  on  the  pro- 
gram of  the  Gaiety  Theatre  as  Rosie  Booty.  Lady 
Victor  Paget,  the  late  Countess   Clancarty,  the 

—189— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Marchioness  of  Aylesbury,  belonged  to  the  chorus. 
Then  there  was  Lilly  Elsie  of  "Merry  Widow" 
fame,  who  became  Mrs.  Ian  Bullough,  Miss  Clif- 
ford, who  became  The  Honourable  Bruce,  and  lost 
her  husband  in  the  beginning  of  the  war  (he  was 
the  son  of  Lord  Aberdeen),  and  Lady  Carrington, 
now  a  widow,  all  belonged  to  the  variety  stage. 
There  were  enormous  possibilities  for  the  beautiful 
coryphees  of  the  English  stage,  young  girls  of  all 
sorts  and  conditions.  Some  of  them  were  from  the 
slums  of  the  East  End,  and  they  gathered  even 
thousands  in  the  transit  of  art.  The  stage  favour- 
ites of  London  always  had  the  entree  to  many 
smart  sets,  but  I  believe  King  Edward,  who  was 
most  fastidious,  respecting  etiquette,  drew  the  line 
very  sharply  between  court  life  and  the  stage.  Not- 
withstanding his  laxity  in  minor  details  respecting 
the  weaker  sex,  he  was  very  strict  in  other  details. 

Among  the  social  lions  connected  directly  or  in- 
directly with  the  theatre,  were  the  authors,  famous 
and  infamous,  of  that  day.  I  knew  many  of  them 
well.  Particularly  do  I  remember  Ouida,  that 
woman  of  sublime  imagination,  who  wrote  "Strath- 
more,"  "Moths,"  "Under  Two  Flags." 

She  was  occupying  a  royal  suite  in  the  then  very 
famous  and  much  frequented  Langham  Hotel  in 
—190— 


AUTHORS  AND  ACTORS 

the  Portland  Place,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
thoroughfares  in  London.  Her  mother  was  with 
her  and  would  never  allow  her  to  be  disturbed  on 
any  pretext  while  writing.  Her  favourite  mode 
of  dressing  was  in  yellow  silk,  quite  decollete.  From 
her  many  admirers  among  the  Crack  Regiments  she 
chose  as  her  beau  ideal  a  handsome  Life  Guards- 
man, a  peer  of  the  realm,  after  whom  she  moulded 
most  of  her  heroes.  Her  story-book  women  were 
always  bad,  frivolous,  even  worse  than  that.  I  once 
hinted  to  her,  somewhat  audaciously  at  the  manner 
in  which  she  dealt  with  the  weaker  sex. 

"My  dear,  let  me  tell  you,  there  are  no  good 
women  excepting  those  who  are  made  so  by  men," 
she  said. 

How  ghastly,  I  thought,  to  be  inured  to  such  a 
cynical  opinion  of  one's  sex.  She  wrote  with  won- 
derful descriptive  power,  and  her  vivid  conceptions 
of  human  nature  were  very  true  to  life,  yet,  poor 
soul,  she  died  heart-broken  and  poor,  though  her 
star  of  life  was  once  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in 
the  horizon  of  her  day.  Her  last  years  were  the 
winter  of  fiction. 

In  appearance,  Ouida  looked  like  a  gypsy.  She 
was  very  dark,  with  deep-set  eyes  that  had  a  pecul- 
iar far-away  look.     She  affected  gowns  of  gypsy 

—191— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Romany  style  which  suited  her  very  well.  She  was 
very  antagonistic  to  the  modern  woman,  and  it  was 
part  of  her  nature  to  never  allow  them  to  shine 
when  she  was  present.  I  believe,  however,  I  was 
very  favourably  looked  upon  by  her.  She  adored 
her  two  collies,  Caesar  and  Minks,  who  were  always 
with  her.     She  talked  to  them  like  human  beings. 

"My  canine  friends  are  real,"  she  used  to  say, 
"the  others  are  chimera." 

In  a  measure  I  believe  she  was  right.  In  her 
lap  the  little  Pomeranian  she  claimed  inspired  her. 
Her  soul  understood  the  language  of  these  dogs 
well.  She  was  charitable  and  human  in  the  ex- 
treme, though  grotesque  at  times  in  her  toilettes. 

Of  the  many  literary  celebrities  I  met,  I  shall 
never  forget  the  little  talks  we  used  to  have  with  the 
Poet  Laureate,  Lord  Tennyson,  whom  we  used  to 
meet  at  a  little  cafe  in  Regent  Street,  in  London, 
where  the  poet  used  to  come  to  sip  his  cafe  noir. 
The  usual  attractions  of  youth  were  still  with  me 
then,  and  being  a  poet  perhaps,  he  was  still  sus- 
ceptible. 

"People  are  often  so  uncharitable,"  I  said  to  him. 
He  paused  a  minute  before  answering  me,  and  with 
that  ambiguous  smile  for  which  he  was  noted,  he 
finally  said: 
—192— 


AUTHORS  AS  I  j  ACTOB 

.ike  an  oyster  knife  that  hacks  and 
hews  the  will,  but  not  the  power  to  a 

J  on  was  rather  tall,  he  wore  his  hair  un- 

.ally  long,  and  the  most  predominant  thing  about 
him  was  his  intellectual,  broad  forehead.     H 
were  rather  la rg  orows  very  prominent,  he 

had  a  very  sympathetic  manner,  and  he  wa 

tonally  gallant.  Frequently  with  my  best 
friend.  my  late  husband,"  e  would  stroll  to- 
gether from  the  little  cafe  on  our  way  home,  listen- 
ing to  this  genius,  for  that  he  was  unmistakably.  I 
fail  to  see  any  resemblance  to  him  in  his  son. 

Mrs.  Craigie  'Oliver  Hobbs)  wrote  several 
charming  plays  which  delighted  the  entire  royal 
family.  Especially  charmed  were  they  with  her 
play  called  "Some  E  and  a  Moral/'*     I: 

|  lite  a  sensation,  especially  as  the  author 
rery  young,  and,  of  cc  nse,  some  surprise  at 
the  cynical  tone  of  the  play.     Her  romance  began 
when  she  was  only  sixteen.    A  |  ng  in  an  ama- 

ur  performance,  she  met  a  young  American  who 
had  just  come  over,  and  immediately  "became  en- 
gaged +o  him.  He  was  rery  good-looking,  and  he 
played  the  part  of  a  Naval  :':.  er.  She  believed 
that  she  was  in  love,  married  him,  and  her  marr 
life  proved  to  be  a  failure.    She  divorced  him.    She 

—193— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

had  a  charming  son,  who  was  educated  by  his  grand- 
parents, and  served  his  country  at  the  front. 

Pearl  Morgan  Richards,  who  became  Mrs. 
Craigie,  was  a  wonderfully  bright  and  witty  woman. 
She  had  a  streak  of  perpetual  sarcasm,  and  yet  her 
wit  made  you  love  her  at  once.  She  had  beautiful 
eyes,  and  a  very  lovely  hand.  She  was  a  great 
friend  of  Lord  and  Lady  Curzon,  and  went  to  the 
Durbar  as  their  guest.  That  was  the  late  Lady 
Curzon,  who  was  Miss  Leiter  of  Chicago.  They 
were  intimate  and  charming  friends,  and  the  cur- 
tain of  time  has  fallen  on  both  of  them. 


—194^ 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  MODERN  SPIRIT  OF  KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

At  the  close  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign,  the  rest- 
lessness which  Her  Majesty's  conservative  policy 
at  court  had  so  long  restrained,  began  to  take  ac- 
tive measure.  The  popularity  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  whose  accession  to  the  throne  seemed  to  be 
interminably  deferred,  had  instilled  a  more  modern 
spirit  among  the  aristocrats  and  the  beautiful 
women,  of  which  there  were  so  many  in  England  at 
this  time.  There  were  indications  of  this  in  such 
gala  events  during  the  latter  part  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria's reign,  as  the  great  ball  at  Warwick  Castle, 
given  by  the  beautiful  Countess  of  Warwick.  She 
was  in  high  favour  at  that  time  with  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  whose  patronage  of  beauty  was  well  known. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  make  most  of  the  gowns, 
the  lingerie,  even  the  robes  de  nuit  of  this  famous 
court  beauty.  She  was  the  most  ravishing  English 
beauty  of  her  time,  and  is  still  a  vision  of  loveliness 
to-day. 

—195— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

It  was  at  this  famous  ball  at  Warwick  Castle, 
that  the  Countess  of  Warwick  wore  an  entirely  new 
suggestion  for  a  ball  dress.  I  think  I  was  the  first 
to  introduce  the  fashion,  which  has  since  been  widely 
copied.  It  was  the  blending  of  fur  with  tulle.  The 
gown  worn  by  the  Countess  of  Warwick  was  a 
rose  tulle  ball  gown,  with  narrow  sable  borders. 

Shall  I  ever  forget  that  ball ! 

The  immense  ball  room  in  that  historical  old  Cas- 
tle Warwick  was  filled  with  the  most  glorious  ex- 
otic flowers.  Palms,  wonderful  bushes  of  clematis, 
tea  roses,  violets,  white  lilacs,  all  intermingled  with 
lilies-of-the-valley.  The  general  effect  was  one  of 
a  modern  saturnalia.  The  parterre  floor  shone  like 
a  looking-glass.  It  was  smooth  as  polished  metal. 
Huge  subdued  rose  tinted  lights  gave  a  dull  soft 
hue  to  everything.  Armies  of  footmen  in  their  gor- 
geous livery  of  the  earl's  household  made  one 
think  almost  of  the  great  ball  that  preceded  Water- 
loo. All  the  leading  County  families  and  their 
daughters  were  present,  and  His  Royal  Highness, 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  opened  the  ball  with  the 
Countess,  who  was  an  ideal  woman  for  an  ideal  ball 
gown.  The  glorious  manteau  of  velour  miroire 
doublee  in  chinchilla,  which  she  wore,  was  the  fin- 
—196— 


KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

ishing  touch  that  startled  everybody.  The  manteau 
was  finished  with  a  sable  collar. 

She  ruled  supreme  upon  the  horizon  of  fashion 
for  a  very  long  time,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  mak- 
ing for  her  superb  liseuse  and  tea  gowns  of  a  daring 
description.  Her  robes  de  nuit,  in  ninon  rose,  black, 
and  vert  dfeau  profusely  trimmed  with  real  Valen- 
ciennes made  her  look  like  a  Louise  de  Lavalliere. 
She  was  a  woman  of  such  exquisite  form. 

The  Countess  of  W.  was  one  of  my  earliest,  and 
by  far  the  most  encouraging  inspiration.  It  was 
for  her  that  I  devised  many  daring  effects.  I  recall 
adapting  Queen  Victoria's  coronation  gown  into  a 
picture  tea  gown  for  the  Countess  of  W.,  of  lace 
ninon  with  pearl  trimmings.  Her  Majesty  Queen 
Victoria  would  have  been  surprised  to  see  how  much 
her  coronation  gown  looked  like  a  tea  gown.  Then 
there  was  an  Empire  tea  gown  of  blond  lace.  It  is 
a  lace  which  is  so  transparent  that  if  used  on  a  light 
tissue  the  effect  is  that  of  a  blond  chevelure.  It  is 
mostly  made  in  the  Ardennes,  and  few  people  know 
how  to  employ  this  beautiful  lace  to  advantage.  It 
is  as  delicate  as  cobweb,  with  opalescent  shades, 
when  draped  over  any  material  of  suitable  texture. 
I  have  always  been  very  successful  in  using  it. 

There  was  no  end  to  the  original  effects  that 

—197— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

were  possible  for  a  woman  of  the  physical  splen- 
dour of  the  Countess  of  W.  I  was  very  proud  of 
an  opera  cloak  which  I  made  for  her,  which  at- 
tracted wide  attention  at  the  time,  and  which  I  be- 
lieve no  other  woman  could  have  worn.  It  was  a 
regal  wrap  of  fine  white  cloth,  smothered  with 
coarse  Guipure,  disclosing  Persian  embroidery 
and  lined  with  rose  and  gold. 

It  was  in  such  women  as  the  Countess  of  W.  that 
the  Prince  of  Wales  confirmed  his  prediction  of  a 
new  and  more  brilliant  fashion  when  he  should  be- 
come king.  I  shall  always  feel  that  King  Edward 
VII  was  the  arbiter  of  the  brilliant  styles  which 
he  admired.  I  feel  that  he  dictated  to  the  English 
women  of  fashion,  for  his  taste  was  that  of  a  grand 
Seigneur.  He  was  very  original,  and  created  about 
him  an  atmosphere  which  inspired  a  startling  qual- 
ity. He  always  adapted  himself  to  his  surround- 
ings. It  didn't  matter  whether  His  Majesty  was 
at  Ascot,  or  Derby,  at  a  horse  show,  at  the  opening 
of  Parliament  or  at  a  salon.  King  Edward  always 
gave  a  personal  tone  to  those  about  him.  What  he 
said  and  what  he  did  were  quoted  at  professional 
clubs.  His  bon  mots  were  adopted  everywhere,  for 
he  was  extremely  witty,  cynical  at  times,  but  full 
of  wonderful  good  nature-  King  Edward  was 
—198^ 


KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

really  a  very  great  diplomat ;  his  diplomacy  was  of 
a  quality  that  would  have  been  an  immense  value 
in  temporising  the  conditions  which  brought  about 
the  war. 

With  the  accession  of  His  Majesty,  King  Ed- 
ward VII,  and  Queen  Alexandra  to  the  throne, 
dress  was  no  longer  so  conventional,  it  became  more 
free  and  easy.  The  King  and  Queen  seemed  to  be, 
as  you  would  say  over  here,  more  up  to  date.  To 
be  sure,  the  Court  Drawing  Rooms  were  still  held 
in  the  day  time,  but  the  balls,  the  concerts  at  Buck- 
ingham Palace,  were  less  formal  and  tiresome.  The 
usual  list  of  people  one  met  at  these  Court  func- 
tions was  much  changed.  There  were  not  so  many 
bores  at  the  palace  as  there  were  during  the  regime 
of  Queen  Victoria.  Of  course,  there  were  those 
who  deplored  the  fact  that  society  was  becoming 
flippant.  A  great  many  of  us  regarded  this  new 
freedom  in  dress,  in  talk,  as  a  great  relief. 

The  first  years  of  the  reign  of  King  Edward  VII 
were  very  brilliant  socially.  The  whole  atmosphere 
of  social  conditions  in  London  became  charged  with 
the  joviality  and  wit  of  the  King  himself.  He  was 
a  great  admirer  of  beautiful  women,  and  he  en- 
couraged their  presence  at  the  British  court  with 
every  possible  sign  of  favour.    In  presence  and  per- 

—199— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

sonality  he  was  a  real  charmer,  the  ladies  all  adored 
him.  His  intimates  called  him  "Teddy."  He  was 
the  best  groomed  cavalier  of  his  day,  the  Beau 
Brummel  of  his  century.  Both  the  King  and  the 
beautiful  Queen  Alexandra  came  into  power  with 
the  love  and  esteem  of  their  millions  of  subjects. 
They  were  as  much  adored  by  the  man  in  the  streets 
as  by  the  aristocracy,  the  dowagers,  and  the  younger 
generation  of  their  reign.  I  always  believed  that 
His  Majesty  was  even  more  popular  in  Paris  than 
in  London.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  en- 
tente cordiale  was  established  by  King  Edward  VII 
so  firmly,  that  no  other  power  could  disturb  the  al- 
liance. King  Edward  still  lives,  we  do  not  realise 
that  he  is  dead,  so  remarkable  is  the  influence  of 
his  spirit  over  the  affairs  of  England.  When  peo- 
ple speak  of  a  delightful  man,  of  a  good  King,  they 
remember  Edward  VII. 

As  Princess  of  Wales,  and  later  as  Queen  Alex- 
andra, this  beautiful  woman  was  always  famous 
for  her  exquisite  taste  in  gowns.  It  was  really  an 
inborn  quality  with  her.  Her  Majesty  has  always 
been  considered  the  best  dressed  woman  in  England. 
I  say  this,  having  some  personal  knowledge  of  how 
the  court  beauties  of  her  day  envied  her;  envy  is 
such  a  frequent  intruder  upon  the  dressmaker's 
—200— 


KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

career.  Thousands  strive  to  copy  Her  Majesty's 
gowns,  her  hats,  her  coiffure,  but  they  were  all  just 
spurious  imitations.  Even  to-day,  having  reached 
the  years  when  one  is  less  likely  to  be  observed  in 
the  matter  of  dress,  Her  Majesty  remains  the  most 
elegant  of  women,  the  most  royal  of  all  the  Queens 
of  the  last  century. 

My  acquaintance  with  Queen  Alexandra  was  of 
many  years.  I  assisted  in  the  direction  of  her  gowns 
before  she  was  Queen  of  England,  and  long  after 
that.  The  privileges  that  came  to  me  as  modiste  to 
royalty  were  not  merely  a  formal  obedience  to  royal 
commands.  A  queen  being  measured  for  a  gown,  is 
still  a  woman.  The  atmosphere  of  the  queen's  bed- 
chamber, however,  is  something  that  is  indescrib- 
ably different. 

It  may  be  that  one  associated  some  mysterious 
superiority  to  the  personality  of  a  queen,  because 
she  is  queen.  At  any  rate  I  shall  always  recall  my 
visits  to  the  bedroom  of  Queen  Alexandra  with  the 
same  sentiment  that  any  other  woman  would,  who 
enjoyed  the  same  privilege. 

The  Queen's  bed-chamber  was  a  huge,  square 
bedroom,  with  a  very  high  ceiling.  It  was  a  unique 
apartment,  for  there  was  nothing  modern  about  it. 
Its  huge  four-poster  bedstead  was  awe-inspiring, 

—201— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

and  the  various  old  oak  chests  of  a  former  period, 
the  couches,  the  chairs,  were  all  of  the  early  English 
period. 

A  large  crucifix  hung  over  Her  Majesty's  bed, 
and  the  real  lace  coverings  upon  which  were  woven 
the  royal  escutcheon,  were  very  beautiful  and  ele- 
gant. Adjoining  the  bedroom  was  the  queen's  bou- 
doir, a  lovely  nest,  in  which  Her  Majesty  put  aside 
her  crown,  and  presumably  put  on  her  slippers. 

Beside  her  dressing  table,  upon  which  were  the 
usual  toilet  accessories,  but  of  pure  gold,  stood  a 
mahogany  case,  with  an  open  glass  inlaid  front.  In- 
side this  case,  all  symmetrically  arranged,  were  the 
queen's  personal  jewels.  Among  them  were  the 
most  lovely  parures  of  diamonds,  pearls,  rubies, 
sapphires,  onyx,  in  fact  the  entire  galaxy  of  beau- 
tiful stones  and  jewels  so  placed  in  the  cabinet  as 
to  be  ready  for  wear,  to  match  any  gown. 

The  bedroom  screen  was  a  very  unique  bit  of  fur- 
niture. It  contained  a  multitude  of  photographs, 
inserted  in  panels,  of  the  young  generation  of  all 
the  reigning  families  of  Europe,  and  of  all  royalty. 
These  photographs  were  framed  in  white  wooden 
arabesque,  which  made  them  stand  out  beautifully. 
If  the  political  masters  of  Europe  could  have  had 
a  glimpse  at  this  wonderful  album  of  photos  in 
—202— 


KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

Queen  Alexandra's  boudoir,  and  realise,  as  they 
would  have  done,  how  tender  and  how  close  the  in- 
ternational relations  of  Europe  were,  by  actual  bond 
of  social  relationship,  it  is  possible  some  of  them 
would  want  to  hide  behind  that  screen  in  view  of 
what  is  happening  now,  to  hide  themselves  from  the 
political  shame  of  the  present  war. 

That  Her  Majesty  might  survey  at  her  ease  the 
toilettes  she  was  to  wear,  a  huge  gown-rack  stood 
beside  the  dressing-table,  upon  which  various  gowns 
could  be  displayed,  so  that  Her  Majesty  could  com- 
fortably choose  the  one  she  preferred  to  wear. 

There  was  an  atmosphere  about  the  Queen's  bou- 
doir of  quiet  dignity,  of  perfect  order,  of  peace  of 
mind.  The  windows  of  her  boudoir  looked  out  upon 
the  velvet  lawn,  the  orderly  footpaths  of  the  palace 
grounds,  and  huge  oak  trees  cast  their  shadows 
nestling  at  the  windows  of  this  exquisitely  appointed 
royal  chamber.  Of  course,  there  were  mementoes 
of  all  sorts  of  things,  little  knick-knacks  that  were 
probably  personal  souvenirs.  Most  prominently 
displayed  in  the  room,  however,  were  large  photo- 
graphs of  all  the  royal  children  of  the  queen,  who 
were  then  grown  up.  I  recall  one  especially  beau- 
tiful photograph,  taken  of  Her  Majesty  as  a  bride, 
upon  her  entree  into  London;  a  speaking  likeness 

—203— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

of  Queen  Victoria  and  the  Prince  Consort ;  a  charm- 
ing picture  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  And  then 
there  was  a  host  of  relatives,  beautifully  framed  and 
too  numerous  to  mention. 

The  most  impressive  recollection  of  the  Queen's 
bedroom  to  me  was  that  huge  crucifix  which  hung 
immediately  over  Her  Majesty's  pillow.  It  indi- 
cated the  glorious  or  melancholy  fact  that  she  was 
queen  "By  the  Grace  of  God."  Many  wonder- 
fully happy,  and  many  tearful  nights,  Her  Majesty 
must  have  passed  in  the  shadow  of  this  crucifix. 

Queen  Alexandra,  like  most  of  her  royal  ances- 
try, was  a  strict  church-goer.  Her  influence  upon 
her  own  children  in  this  respect  was  very  great.  I 
remember  when  Canon  Duckworth  awaited  her 
wishes  as  to  the  music  for  the  funeral  of  her  son, 
the  Duke  of  Clarence,  she  said  to  him: 

"His  favourite  hymn  was  'Safe  in  the  Arms  of 
Jesus.' " 

Her  Majesty  was  intensely  feminine,  as  the  fol- 
lowing anecdote  will  confirm.  It  was  when  she  was 
Princess  of  Wales  and  was  preparing  to  go  to  Ber- 
lin to  assist  at  the  funeral  ceremony  of  Kaiser 
Friedrich.  I  was  summoned  to  Marlborough 
House  to  be  there  in  case  any  advice  was  needed  in 
some  crisis  concerning  the  gowns  of  Her  Royal 
—204— 


KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

Highness.  The  scene  is  as  vivid  to  me  to-day  as 
then. 

The  train  was  already  waiting  for  the  royal  trav- 
ellers at  Victoria  Station.  Her  Royal  Highness 
was  busy,  applying  those  last  touches  that  every 
woman  seems  to  think  of  only  at  the  last  minute, 
when  the  Prince  of  Wales  opened  the  door  of  the 
room.  I  can  see  him,  as  he  stepped  back  in  amaze- 
ment, when  he  saw  that  the  princess  was  wearing  a 
cloak  which  had  no  crepe  trimming.  It  appeared, 
though  I  shall  never  believe  it,  that  Her  Royal 
Highness  didn't  know  that  it  was  necessary  for  her 
to  wear  crepe. 

"But,  my  dear,"  remonstrated  His  Royal  High- 
ness, very  gently,  "it  is  essential." 

Speedily  my  acolytes  were  sent  hurrying  to  my 
house,  and  when  they  returned  with  the  crepe  we 
sewed  it  on  the  cloak,  while  Her  Highness  patiently 
stood  up.  I  shall  never  forget  the  charming  pres- 
ence of  the  late  Duke  of  Clarence  (Cuffs  and  Col- 
lars, as  he  was  called ) .  He  was  leaning  on  the  man- 
telpiece, doing  his  best  to  be  formally  solemn,  to 
suppress  his  laughter.  I  think  we  all  of  us  in  the 
room  only  managed  to  keep  serious  with  the  great- 
est  difficulty.     And   yet,   the   beautiful   princess 

—205— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

seemed  serenely  unconscious  that  she  was  keeping 
anybody  waiting. 

It  was  at  Marlborough  House,  during  the  Jubi- 
lee of  Queen  Victoria,  that  I  first  met  the  late 
Czar  of  all  the  Russias.  I  was  going  upstairs  to 
Her  Royal  Highness'  apartment,  when  at  a  very 
narrow  point  in  the  corridor  I  met  a  young  gentle- 
man. There  was  scarcely  room  for  us  to  pass,  and 
he  had  to  squeeze  himself  up  against  the  wall.  Upon 
seeing  me,  he  took  his  cigarette  from  his  lips,  lifted 
his  hat,  and  passed  on.  When  I  got  upstairs  I  told 
them  how  I  had  met  Prince  George,  as  the  present 
King  of  England  was  then  called. 

"Oh  dear  no,  dear  Madame,"  I  was  told.  "It 
was  the  Czarevitch,  the  future  Emperor  of  Russia." 

As  every  one  knows,  there  is  a  striking  resem- 
blance between  King  George  of  England  and  the 
Czar  of  Russia,  who  are  cousins.  He  impressed  me 
as  a  very  charming  youth,  very  modest  in  demean- 
our, and  very  cordial.  My  first  impression  of  him 
was  that  of  a  young,  unostentatious  college  boy, 
who  was  up  in  London  for  the  holidays;  and  yet, 
there  was  something  of  a  grand  air  about  him,  a 
mysterious  suggestion  of  his  future  destiny.  I 
wonder  if  he  still  remembers,  this  Czar  of  all  the 
Russias,  those  sweet  pastoral  days  in  England,  so 
—206— 


KING  EDWARD'S  RULE 

void  of  care  and  sorrow.  At  any  rate,  the  dress- 
maker has  not  forgotten  his  gracious  bow.  He  can- 
not have  forgotten  those  delightful  days  in  Lon- 
don, although  momentous  times  have  supervened, 
distress  and  horror  have  pursued  him.  Does  the 
youth  subconsciously  remember  his  own  delightful 
personality  of  those  early  days  in  London,  or  has 
he  really  become  a  hard  and  unrelenting  monarch? 
I  wonder,  for  the  impression  I  derived  of  him  was 
truly  a  very  adorable  one. 

I  am  doing  my  best  to  gather  up  the  threads  of 
all  these  brilliant  memories  of  former  years  method- 
ically, trying  not  to  slip  any  incidents,  no  matter 
how  small  and  unimportant  they  appeared  at  the 
time. 


-207— 


CHAPTER  X 

HIS  MAJESTY'S  LAST  AFFAIR  OF  THE   HEART 

During  those  hours  of  morbid  retrospection,  in 
which  kings  and  commoners  equally  indulge,  His 
Majesty  King  Edward  VII  found  solace  in  a  new 
adherent  to  fill  the  void  which  the  beautiful  Count- 
ess of  W.  had  left.  This  favourite  of  the  court  be- 
gan her  comet-like  career  with  brilliant  notoriety. 
She  was  not  beautiful,  she  was  tall,  well  formed, 
and,  history  says,  was  particularly  proud  of  her 
limbs.  She  was  somewhat  younger  than  the  Count- 
ess of  W.  People  described  her  as  a  woman  of  fine 
stature,  and  attractive  person.  She  had  a  great 
deal  of  spirit,  she  was  daring,  and  whatever  she  un- 
dertook she  carried  out  with  considerable  caution 
and  perseverance. 

In  her  relation  with  the  king  she  was  stubborn, 
sometimes  presumptuous,  faults  that  are  almost  in- 
separable from  a  sudden  rise  to  fortune,  from  com- 
parative poverty. 

In  her  earlier  career  Mrs.  G.  K.  was  very  poor 
—208— 


HIS  MAJESTY'S  LAST  HEART  AFFAIR 

indeed.  I  knew  her  when  her  first  baby  was  born, 
and  she  lived  modestly  in  Wilton  Crescent.  No  one 
would  have  dreamed  then  that  she  could  ever  reach 
her  exalted  station,  if  you  like  to  call  it  such.  I  re- 
call that  she  sent  over  to  me  one  morning,  with  an 
order  for  some  tea  gowns.  Naturally  I  was  re- 
luctant, knowing  that  she  could  hardly  afford  my 
prices.  However,  a  certain  lady  M.,  who  was  then 
Miss  Teresa  V.,  told  me  that  she  would  be  respon- 
sible, and  I  sent  a  very  pretty  lace  gown  with  pale 
blue  ribbon.  In  later  years,  this  court  favourite 
could  pay  almost  three  figures  for  her  gowns,  when 
in  former  times  one  figure  was  too  much.  Being 
Scotch,  she  was  naturally  of  a  saving  disposition, 
and  therefore  amassed  a  goodly  fortune  which  she 
takes  great  care  of.  I  heard  that  she  was  provided 
with  twelve  thousand  pounds  a  year,  but,  of  course, 
this  is  only  rumour. 

The  royal  favour  mounted  to  her  head  like  wine, 
tilted  her  balance  for  a  downward  trend.  His  Maj- 
esty showered  all  kinds  of  presents  upon  the  new 
star.  She  was  nearly  always  with  him.  There  was 
a  certain  insolence  in  the  way  in  which  she  endeav- 
oured to  usurp  His  Majesty.  She  dressed  very 
well,  her  favourite  colour  being  blue.  She  claimed 
to  be  an  authority  on  certain  theories  of  dress. 

—209— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Those  who  looked  on  at  this  thriving  romance, 
realised  that  the  impatient  spirit  of  the  new  favour- 
ite was  little  fitted  to  brook  the  devious  endearments 
of  the  sovereign.  There  were  lovesick  quarrels  and 
reconciliations  in  which  the  king  indulged  at  times. 
These  mimic  comedies  of  forgiveness  gave  ample 
food  for  the  cynics,  and  laughter  for  the  superficial. 
When  in  Biarritz,  the  favourite  often  went  to  His 
Majesty's  private  sitting  room.  If  for  some  reason 
or  other  His  Majesty's  confidential  valet  would  not 
always  allow  her  to  enter,  she  made  a  scene,  shed 
tears  of  exasperation. 

There  were  times  of  mimic  remorse,  when  she 
often  declared  that  she  would  rather  give  every- 
thing up  than  continue  to  be  talked  about,  than 
lead  her  life  in  the  society  of  the  king,  which  made 
her  intoxicated  with  the  audacity  of  power. 

She  was  never  entirely  contented  because  there 
were  always  limitations  to  her  ambitions,  and  she 
foresaw  them.  She  was  always  demanding  new 
proofs  of  his  devotion  to  her.  She  feared  always 
the  loss  of  a  certain  prestige  which  her  relations 
appeared  to  give  her.  She  had  a  good  brain,  and 
would  have  interfered  in  affairs  of  state.  In  fact, 
she  was  constantly  repeating  to  the  king  certain  im- 
portant facts  which  she  pretended  to  have  heard. 
—210— 


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(Limiptnillfr  &  ffiqnrrvji. 


CERTIFICATE   GRANTED   BY    PRINCESS    MARY    ADELAIDE,   DUCHESS    OF   TECK 

Her  Royal  Highness,  the  late  Duchess  of  Teck,  called  by  the  Baroness  "the 
most  charming,  genial,  gracious  and  lovable  of  all  royal  ladies,"  mother  of 
Queen  Marie,  appointed  the  author  to  receive  the  Royal  Warrant;  and  intro- 
duced her  as  "the  great  artiste,"  into  the  Duchess'  Salon,  the  night  of  an 
historical  ball  at  Devonshire  House,  when  the  Duchess  was  gowned  as  the 
Klectrice  of  Hanover  in   a   creation   of  the   author's. 


HIS  MAJESTY'S  LAST  HEART  AFFAIR 

She  wanted  always  to  be  present  at  the  most  im- 
portant moments  of  His  Majesty's  life,  and  perhaps 
he  was  conscious  of  a  certain  feline  streak  in  her 
character,  because  he  always  banished  her,  ignored 
her,  when  matters  of  state  were  discussed.  On  these 
occasions  she  endured  the  refinement  of  humiliation. 

She  was  a  very  calculating  woman,  and  she  no 
doubt  had  tremendous  aspirations  towards  the 
throne.  Of  course,  there  is  no  bed  of  roses  without 
thorns,  and  in  her  long  talks  with  the  king  there 
were  thorny  moments. 

I  saw  some  of  the  presents  she  received  by  royal 
favour,  and  they  were  lovely  gifts.  She  had  a 
brooch  set  with  a  crown  of  diamonds,  a  necklace  of 
magnificent  round  pearls.  She  always  wore  a  dia- 
mond maltese  cross  and  an  eagle  in  diamonds  and 
emeralds.  One  of  her  most  precious  royal  trinkets, 
was  a  bracelet  with  the  king's  portrait  set  in  dia- 
monds. Her  tailored  gowns  were  always  perfect, 
and  on  horseback  her  figure  showed  to  great  ad- 
vantage. 

Her  house  in  Grosvenor  Square  displayed  per- 
fect taste,  and  her  first  reception  there  at  the  house- 
warming  was  a  great  success.  I  believe  her  eldest 
daughter  was  presented  as  a  debutante  to  London 
society.    Her  husband,  who  was  a  brother  of  the 

—211— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Earl   of   Albemarle,   after   a  prolonged   stay   in 
America,  went  in  for  art  decorations. 

I  remember  travelling  to  England  from  Paris, 
seeing  her  at  the  station.  There  was  a  fearful 
crush,  and  everybody  was  trying  to  get  to  their 
seats.  Suddenly  this  lady  rushed  by,  pushing  every- 
body aside,  in  great  excitement  to  reach  her  car- 
riage. Her  arrogant  demeanour  was  very  much 
criticised.  Following  her,  was  a  tall  footman,  car- 
rying her  dressing-case  and  jewel-box. 

"Hurry,  please,  hurry,"  she  said  very  loudly.  "I 
must  reach  London  this  evening,  my  appointment 
with  His  Majesty  allows  of  no  delay." 

The  passengers  smiled  cynically  at  the  audacity 
of  her  remark,  at  least  at  the  bad  taste. 

It  was  a  difficult  position,  and  sometimes  she 
turned  to  her  own  pleasures  to  escape  the  irritation 
of  her  master's  petulant  society.  It  was  not  aston- 
ishing that  the  nervous  tension  weighed  upon  her, 
and  that  she  sometimes  became  fractious  to  a  de- 
gree. His  Majesty  was  approaching  the  maturity 
of  years,  and  people  often  asked  themselves  what 
would  become  of  her,  when  His  Majesty  died.  They 
wondered  if  he  would  bequeath  to  her  some  power 
after  his  death. 

Pro  tern,  she  decided  to  provide  against  evil  days 
—212— 


HIS  MAJESTY'S  LAST  HEART  AFFAIR 

by  saving  her  money.  Naturally,  among  His  Maj- 
esty's intimate  friends  she  had  not  missed  fire  en- 
tirely, for  she  was  very  vain,  and  still  resplendent. 
There  arose  complications  sometimes  which  were 
distracting  because  of  her  domestic  embarrassments, 
which  she  usually  appeared  to  prefer.  ( She  was  a 
woman  who  was  immured  in  the  hour  of  diplo- 
macy.) If  she  was  disturbed,  it  was  usually  pre- 
tence, a  post  for  a  substantial  pretext.  She  knew 
how  vacillating  the  king  was  at  times,  and  when  his 
weaknesses  appeared  to  jeopardise  her  power,  she 
would  wait  until  the  affair  had  blown  over.  She 
learned  to  show  no  jealousy,  and  her  interviews  with 
His  Majesty  after  an  apparent  lapse  of  devotion, 
artfully  made  her  appear  more  august.  It  required 
all  the  skill  of  her  clever  brain  to  hide  the  diminu- 
tion of  her  credit  with  the  king  from  the  public. 
Yet  her  devotion  was  unflinching,  there  was  some- 
thing in  it  that  quelled  even  her  changeable  mood. 
She  was  so  constantly  with  His  Majesty  that  she 

was  cynically  referred  to  as  the  obstinate  moth,  who 
wished  to  burn  her  wings  thoroughly,  not  merely 
singe  them.  Obviously  they  were  very  congenial, 
these  two,  for  she  was  versatile  in  her  mind,  had  a 
ready,  spirituelle  wit;  and  the  hours  they  wiled 
away,  sitting  upon  the  rocks,  close  to  the  blue  wa- 

—213— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

ters  at  Biarritz,  must  have  been  very  delightful. 
She  would  assiduously  tuck  him  up  with  rugs  so 
that  he  would  run  no  risk  of  catching  cold,  and  re- 
late to  him  the  latest  court  scandal.  Passersby 
could  hear  the  gay  laughter  of  His  Majesty  at  the 
wit  of  some  little  piquant  story  told  him. 

But  all  things  must  come  to  an  end.  Had  His 
Majesty  lived  longer,  I  think  the  idyl  would  have 
ended,  for  a  new  star  was  appearing  even  then  upon 
the  hemisphere  of  His  Majesty's  romance.  She  was 
the  lovely  American  actress  whom  he  was  beginning 
to  admire,  and  all  sorts  of  rumours  were  beginning 
to  be  discussed  about  her  at  the  clubs. 

It  was  towards  the  end  of  King  Edward's  reign, 
that  the  function  of  being  presented  at  court  be- 
came singularly  important.  It  had  always  been  so, 
but  somehow  or  other  the  Drawing  Rooms  at  Buck- 
ingham Palace  became  the  aim  and  ambition  of 
every  social  aspirant  who  came  to  London.  To  be 
presented  at  the  English  court  immediately  opened 
a  wide  and  wonderful  social  future,  for  it  meant  an 
entree  to  any  foreign  court  in  the  world. 

The  Drawing  Rooms  held  in  the  early  spring 

were  the  most  beautiful  because  the  weather  was 

fine,  the  court  dresses  chosen  were  more  brilliantly 

beautiful,  the  flowers  were  fresh,  and  every  one  was 

—214— 


HIS  MAJESTY'S  LAST  HEART  AFFAIR 

jubilant  and  happy.  On  these  occasions  the  whole 
of  London  and  the  suburbs  emptied  into  the  Mall 
to  stare  at  the  grandes  dames  and  the  young  girls 
as  they  drove  by  in  their  gorgeous  turnouts  towards 
the  palace.  The  coachmen  and  footmen  always 
wore  huge  bouquets  upon  their  liveries.  There  were 
flowers  attached  to  the  horses'  heads,  the  silver  and 
gold  harnesses  were  sumptuous.  Then  there  was  a 
procession  of  the  different  ambassadors  in  their 
respective  gorgeous  uniforms,  all  of  which  made  a 
big  show  for  the  crowds.  It  was  customary  for 
friends  to  approach  the  carriage  windows  when,  as 
often  happened,  the  procession  of  carriages  was 
blocked.  These  little  chats  and  flirtations  at  the 
open  carnage  windows  relieved  the  patient  waiting 
sometimes  for  hours,  before  the  palace  portals  were 
opened  to  let  the  privileged  enter.  The  splendid 
band  of  the  Life  Guards  played  popular  music  in 
the  palace  yards.  All  these  gorgeously  dressed 
women,  once  they  emerged  from  their  carriages,  lost 
all  reserve  of  manner,  and  became  nothing  but  a 
swell  mob,  pushing  and  struggling  with  each  other 
in  the  ante-rooms.  There  was  a  wooden  barrier  so 
arranged,  held  by  the  ushers,  that  could  allow  only 
so  many  ladies  to  pass  in.  The  rooms  and  the  stair- 
cases of  the  palace  were  filled  with  gorgeous  flunk- 

—215— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

ies  wearing  the  royal  red  liveries,  a  remnant  of  the 
Georges,  who  politely  and  ceremoniously  conducted 
these  ladies  into  the  dressing-rooms,  where  maids 
took  care  of  their  wraps  and  gave  them  other  assist- 
ance. 

Their  Majesties  entered  the  throne  room  from  a 
side  staircase,  preceded  by  Lord  Dundonald,  the 
Gold-Stick-in-Waiting,  the  Silver- Stick-in- Wait- 
ing, the  Master  of  the  Horse,  the  Duke  of  Portland, 
the  Lord  Marshal  of  Ceremonies,  the  late  Duke 
of  Norfolk.  They  walked  backward,  as  gracefully 
as  they  could,  in  front  of  Their  Majesties.  Captain 
Godfrey's  band  played  during  the  entire  ceremony. 

Queen  Alexandra  and  King  Edward  VII  took 
their  places  on  the  golden  throne  chairs  which  stood 
on  a  red  dais.  Standing  around  them,  were  all  the 
important  royalties,  and  the  Diplomatic  Corps. 
The  wives  and  daughters  of  these  gentlemen  en- 
joyed the  privilege  of  a  private  entrance  to  the  pal- 
ace, so  that  they  should  not  mingle  with  the  vulgar 
crowds. 

In  former  years  it  was  discovered  that  certain 
society  chaperones  in  London  could  secure  the  priv- 
ilege of  a  presentation  at  court  for  young  girls,  de- 
manding a  considerable  sum  for  it.  These  chaper- 
ones were  usually  titled  ladies  but  not  rich,  and  be- 
—216— 


HIS  MAJESTY'S  LAST  HEART  AFFAIR 

sides,  in  this  way,  adding  to  their  income,  the  cha- 
perones'  expenses  for  a  court  gown,  the  carriage 
and  the  flowers  were  all  thrown  in.  I  knew  several 
of  these  ladies  who  really  made  a  good  bit  out  of 
it.  This  situation  was  finally  quashed,  when  one  of 
these  titled  chaperones  found  her  name  erased  from 
the  list  of  court  entertainments,  and  the  presenta- 
tion she  had  scheduled  for  an  American  lady  was 
cancelled. 

These  functions  were  of  great  importance,  and 
the  preparation  for  them  cost  a  little  fortune  for 
the  outfit.  I  have  made  court  gowns  for  from  one 
hundred  to  five  hundred  guineas,  and  more.  They 
always  required  costly  embroidery,  furs,  laces.  I 
used  some  of  the  most  superb  heirlooms  of  a 
ducal  house  in  laces,  which  were  over  many  hun- 
dred years  old.  If  the  lace  was  ripped  from  the 
gown,  after  the  dress  had  been  used,  it  was  sent 
to  Exeter,  an  old  Cathedral  town,  to  be  restored. 
In  Exeter  lived  a  family  of  old  lace-makers  who 
had  plied  their  trade  for  generations.  They  were 
experts,  and  they  could  reconstruct  any  lace,  re- 
storing it  to  its  original  pattern.  I  have  had  in 
my  lace-safe  over  sixty  thousand  pounds'  worth  at 
one  time. 

The  elder  ladies,  by  special  permission,  were  per- 

—217— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

mitted  to  wear  lappets  with  their  three  feathers 
worn  in  the  hair,  but  the  younger  women  were  com- 
pelled to  have  the  regulation  veil  of  tulle,  trailing 
four  yards  long  from  the  shoulders.  One  of  the 
amusing  incidents  of  my  fitting  rooms  was  when 
I  had  to  see  if  these  ladies  in  their  new  court  gowns 
could  courtesy  and  walk  backwards  in  them  with- 
out falling.  The  trains  of  the  court  gowns  were 
very  long,  and  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Lords-in- 
Waiting  to  throw  these  trains  over  the  lady's  left 
arm  when  she  had  finished  her  bow  to  royalty,  to 
avoid  confusion.  I  do  not  imagine  that  anywhere 
in  the  world  one  could  find  a  more  gorgeous  spec- 
tacle than  these  English  court  Drawing  Rooms. 


—218-^ 


CHAPTER  XI 

SOME  BEAUTIES  OF  KING  EDWARD'S  REIGN 

What  wonderful,  stately  beauties  those  women 
of  King  Edward's  court  were!  Such  women  as 
Georgina,  the  Countess  of  Dudley,  the  late  Coun- 
tess of  Dalhousie,  the  late  Duchess  of  Leinster, 
Lady  Lonsdale,  Marchioness  of  Ripon,  the  Coun- 
tess of  Londesborough,  and  many  others. 

The  close  relations  between  the  German  House 
of  Hanover  and  the  English  ruling  blood  is  well 
known.  I  recall  that  Her  Royal  Highness,  the 
Princess  Fredericka  of  Hanover,  who  became 
Baroness  von  Pavel-Rammingen,  came  to  me  and 
ordered  her  coronation  gown.  She  was  a  superb 
woman,  with  a  perfect  figure,  and  glorious  white 
hair.  She  was  pronounced  the  most  regal-looking 
woman  at  the  coronation  ceremonies  of  King  Ed- 
ward VII.  Her  presence  at  that  time  was  regarded 
with  a  great  deal  of  pride  by  the  British,  for  her 
imperial  carriage  made  her  tower  over  all  the  other 
royal  ladies  present.    She  was  the  daughter  of  the 

—219— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

blind  King  of  Hanover,  and  inherited  much  of  her 
beauty  from  her  mother,  who  was  the  beautiful 
Princess  of  Altenburg.  Her  royal  parents  were  at 
that  time  among  the  richest  reigning  sovereigns. 
Her  brother  was  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  a  royal 
Prince  of  the  House  of  England,  who  married 
Princess  Thyra  of  Denmark,  sister  of  Queen  Alex- 
andra. Before  the  great  cataclysm  of  war  hap- 
pened in  Europe,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  was 
recognised  as  the  head  of  the  House  of  Guelph. 
The  marriage  of  Princess  Fredericka  of  Hanover 
was  a  romantic  affair,  and  a  love  match.  I  believe, 
however,  it  was  not  very  much  approved  by  her 
family.  She  was  a  great  friend  of  my  late  husband, 
who,  like  herself,  had  been  brought  up  at  the  blind 
King  of  Hanover's  Court. 

The  opportunity  which  King  Edward's  leniency 
of  taste  in  fashion  gave  the  dressmakers  of  his  reign, 
inspired  me  to  create  some  odd  effects.  For  in- 
stance, I  accomplished  a  startling  gown  novelty 
which  was  worn  by  Queen  Alexandra  at  the  Ascot 
races.  It  was  a  costume  made  of  Turkish  towelling. 
I  also  created  for  Her  Majesty  some  brown  Hol- 
land gowns  profusely  trimmed  with  velvet.  Women 
of  fashion  were  surprised  at  the  audacity  of  these 
combinations,  and  some  women  were  surprised  at 
—220-^ 


BEAUTIES  OF  KING  EDWARD'S  REIGN 

the  prices  of  these  gowns.  I  recall  that  Mrs.  H. 
Oppenheim,  the  wife  of  a  rich  English  banker,  who 
frequently  entertained  King  Edward  when  he  was 
Prince  of  Wales,  objected  to  the  price  of  a  cotton 
frock,  profusely  intermixed  with  linen  embroidery. 
The  price  of  the  frock  was  sixty-five  guineas,  and 
it  staggered  her. 

"But,  my  dear,"  she  said  to  me,  "this  is  only  a 
cotton  frock  after  all." 

"Yes,  Madame,  but  it  is  a  Frederic  frock,"  I  said. 

These  moods  of  economy,  however,  among  the 
beautiful  women  of  this  period  were  very  rare. 
Many  of  them  were  quite  grateful  for  my  assist- 
ance. 

I  recall  an  occasion  when  a  very  beautiful  girl, 
daughter  of  a  descendant  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  went 
to  the  races  in  one  of  my  frocks,  and  there  met  her 
husband,  who  declared  it  was  love  at  first  sight. 
He  was  then  Lord  Elcho,  now  the  Earl  of  Wey- 
mis.  She  always  declared  it  was  my  frock  that  did 
it.  I  can  see  her  now,  a  dark,  slender  beauty,  wear- 
ing that  gown  of  terra  cotta  cloth,  with  revers  of 
reseda  velvet.  Hat  en  suite,  of  course.  Her  sister 
was  Pamela  Wyndham,  daughter  of  the  Honour- 
able Percy  Wyndham,  and  niece  of  Lord  Lecon- 
field.  In  after  years,  with  her  two  lovely  sisters,  Mrs. 

—221— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Adeane  and  Lady  Tennant,  the  three  who  have 
been  mentioned  in  an  earlier  chapter  as  "The  Three 
Graces"  were  immortalised  in  a  painting  by  the 
famous  American  artist,  Sargent.  I  clothed  these 
three  girls  before  they  were  married, — it  seems  only 
yesterday — yet  I  am  now  confronted  with  the  pres- 
ence of  their  marriageable  daughters.  They  are 
not  quite  so  beautiful  as  their  mothers  were.  Na- 
ture does  not  reproduce  as  accurately  as  one  could 
wish,  but  perhaps  that  is  because  I  helped  to  make 
their  mothers  look  lovely,  a  bit  of  conceit  upon  my 
part,  yet  one  that  is,  I  feel,  nevertheless  true. 
However,  truth  is  perhaps  not  always  appreciated, 
but  I  feel  that  Mr.  Balfour  did,  for  he  has  not 
changed  his  lifelong  devotion  to  the  Honourable 
Mrs.  Percy  .Wyndham,  the  lovely  mother  of  "The 
Three  Graces." 

It  was  my  custom  to  study  my  gowns  and  my 
clients  as  a  painter  studies  the  composition  of  his 
picture,  as  Gainsborough  did,  or  Hoppner  did. 
There  was  once  an  idea,  a  horrible  tradition,  that  a 
brunette  should  always  wear  brilliant  orange,  crim- 
son, or  bright  green.  Carlos  Duran  reversed  all 
this  by  advocating  these  colours  for  blondes,  hence 
his  marvellous  pictures,  when  for  instance  in  later 
years,  he  painted  the  portrait  of  the  late  Countess 
—222— 


BEAUTIES  OF  KING  EDWARDS  REIGN 

Dalhousie,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  of  her 
time,  and  the  lovely  Duchess  of  Leinster.  The 
sudden  death  of  the  Earl  of  Dalhousie,  who  was 
taken  ill  on  board  his  yacht,  was  the  beginning  of 
the  end  of  this  beautiful  woman.  In  some  mysteri- 
ous way,  for  some  tragic  reason  unexplained,  the 
beautiful  woman,  the  Countess  Dalhousie,  died  only 
one  week  later. 

I  remember  her  very  well,  with  her  Madonna 
face.  She  was  a  tall,  graceful  woman,  and  as  in 
the  celebrated  painting  by  Carlos  Duran,  I  remem- 
ber seeing  her  in  her  gown  of  dead  rose-leaf  shade, 
of  which  she  was  very  fond.  She  was  a  superb 
personality. 

The  Duchess  of  Leinster,  and  the  blond  duke, 
her  husband,  did  not  see  their  sons  grow  to  man- 
hood. The  Duchess  of  Leinster  was  really  the 
prototype  of  a  Grecian  goddess.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  another  celebrated  beauty,  the  Coun- 
tess of  Faversham,  who  created  a  sensation  wher- 
ever she  went.  Also,  the  man  with  the  scythe  is 
no  respecter  of  persons. 

This  day  of  tall,  long  limbed  English  beauties, 
which  Du  Maurier  immortalised  in  his  sketches  for 
Punch,  was  indeed  rich  and  inspiring  for  the  dress- 
maker.   No  one  who  ever  saw  the  beautiful  Count- 

—223— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

ess  of  Dudley,  whose  marriage  to  the  eccentric 
Lord  Dudley  was  one  of  the  extravagances  of 
London  life,  where  so  many  poor  but  deserving 
beauties  have  sacrificed  themselves  upon  the  altar  of 
Mammon,  can  ever  forget  her.  She  was  one  of  the 
proud  Montcrieffs,  one  of  three  sisters  who  were  all 
equally  beautiful,  tall,  regal.  There  was  a  very 
great  difference  between  the  ages  of  the  enormously 
wealthy  Lord  Dudley  and  the  very  beautiful  Count- 
ess of  Dudley.  She  reigned  supreme  over  Dudley 
House  on  Park  Lane,  in  London,  where  she  fre- 
quently had  the  honour  of  entertaining  the  King 
and  Queen,  and  all  the  brilliant  society  of  the  Court. 
Georgina,  Countess  of  Dudley,  will  go  down  to 
history  as  one  of  those  famous  women  whom  King 
Edward  VII  admired.  She  was  very  tall,  patrician 
in  feature  and  manner,  and  wore  the  most  sumptu- 
ous and  glorious  clothes.  Her  beauty  of  course  was 
of  the  statuesque  type,  with  magnificent  hair,  and 
the  carriage  of  an  empress.  She  was  one  of  the  most 
elegant  and  most  extravagant  women  of  her  time. 
Her  lingerie  and  all  her  personal  accessories  were 
proverbially  envied.  Her  house  was  full  of  the 
finest  collection  of  portraits  and  objets  d'art,  and 
every  one  was  only  too  anxious  to  be  invited  to  her 
receptions.  When  the  famous  sapphires  which 
—224— 


BEAUTIES  OF  KING  EDWARD'S  REIGN 

every  one  in  London  had  seen  or  heard  about  were 
stolen  from  her,  she  never  by  word  or  action  be- 
trayed the  effect  of  this  great  loss.  Her  pride  was 
unparalleled,  and  her  soirees  and  balls  were  like 
royal  occasions.  Among  her  greatest  admirers  was 
Cecil  Rhodes,  the  famous  South  African  king,  and 
it  was  no  secret  in  London  that  the  Kaiser  de- 
lighted in  her  presence.  As  the  years  went  by  they 
seemed  to  pass  the  Countess  of  Dudley  unimpres- 
sively. She  never  seemed  to  change,  or  fade,  or 
radiate  any  the  less,  as  she  grew  older.  The  two 
sisters  of  the  Countess  of  Dudley,  Lady  Mordaunt 
and  the  Duchess  of  Athole,  were  equally  handsome 
women.  With  their  sister,  the  Countess  of  Dudley, 
they  were  always  referred  to  in  London,  before 
their  marriage,  as  "the  perfect  trio."  The  late  Lady 
Mordaunt  was  for  a  long  time  an  invalid.  The 
Duchess  of  Athole,  like  her  sister,  the  Countess  of 
Dudley,  enjoys  all  the  privileges  of  being  a  society 
favourite  in  London. 

The  list  of  regal  women  who  were  the  court  fa- 
vourites of  King  Edward  VII  and  Queen  Alexan- 
dra is  far  too  long  to  complete  in  so  brief  a  chron- 
icle of  the  times  as  this  one.  A  few  of  them,  how- 
ever, established  a  personal  influence  in  my  life,  and 
therefore  are  more  vividly  remembered. 

—225— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

The  beautiful  Lady  Lonsdale,  for  instance,  who 
is  now  the  Marchioness  of  Ripon,  was  one  of  the 
intimate  friends  of  the  Queen.  Naturally,  the  act 
of  gowning  these  aristocratic  women  was  an  occupa- 
tion which  inspired  romantic  possibilities.  If  the 
fame  of  an  English  beauty  could  be  improved  by 
a  stunning  frock,  then  the  romantic  career  of  that 
beauty  had  been  somewhat  inspired  by  Frederic. 
Lady  Lonsdale  had  an  instinct  for  exquisite  gown- 
ing, but  I  may  take  the  credit  of  stirring  the  ro- 
mantic instincts  of  the  late  Duke  of  Albany,  with 
a  tea  gown  I  made  for  Her  Ladyship.  He  was  a 
bachelor,  and  admired  her  from  the  moment  he  saw 
her  in  this  creation.  It  was  a  tea  gown  of  moire 
crepe  de  chine,,  with  an  overdress  of  finest  Bruges 
lace,  transparent,  with  touches  of  turquoise  blue. 
It  was  a  very  becoming  combination  to  the  marvel- 
lous beauty  of  Lady  Lonsdale.  The  Duke  of  Al- 
bany was  a  bachelor,  and  this  tea  gown  "bowled 
him  over." 

Lady  Lonsdale  at  this  time  lived  in  a  charming 
little  house  in  Brook  Street,  London.  It  was  ex- 
cellently and  daintily  arranged.  Her  boudoir  and 
bedroom  were  lined  with  real  lace  over  turquoise 
blue.  Her  toilet  set  was  also  turquoise  and  gold. 
Low  cushion-like  settees  which  furnished  the  room 
—226— 


BEAUTIES  OF  KING  EDWARD'S  REIGN 

were  also  in  pale  blue  brocades.  The  rest  of  the 
furniture  was  of  white  ivory,  and  in  huge  vases 
bunches  of  white  syringa  and  violets  filled  the  rooms 
with  perfume. 

To-day  she  is  the  Marchioness  of  Ripon,  and 
though  her  hair  is  snow-white,  she  is  as  greatly  ad- 
mired as  in  former  years. 

One  would  rather  expect  to  find  a  predominance 
of  Saxon  types  among  the  beautiful  women  of  this 
period,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  were  rare. 

The  striking  blonde  beauty  of  the  Countess  of 
Londesborough  established  her  reputation  among 
these  wonderful  women  of  King  Edward's  court. 
The  Countess  of  Londesborough  had  a  most  unique 
way  of  dressing.  She  would  drape  a  piece  of  real 
lace  and  some  oriental  material  around  her  lovely 
shoulders,  put  on  one  of  those  picture  hats  which 
only  our  English  women  know  how  to  wear  (for 
confirmation  see  Gainsborough's  pictures),  and  she 
would  become  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  To-day,  her 
daughter,  Lady  Dennison,  who  is  engaged  to  a 
prince  royal,  is  one  of  the  most  active  and  loyal 
women  workers  for  the  wounded,  in  fact  for  the 
entire  cause,  in  London. 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  European  Court  in 
the  twentieth  century  which  could  boast  of  such  a 

—227— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

complex  magnitude  of  loveliness  among  women  as 
the  Court  of  King  Edward  VII  properly  claimed. 
Their  types  of  beauty  were  unrivalled, — their  com- 
plexions, their  glorious  hair,  their  figures, — all  in- 
spired the  artist's  vision  of  the  dressmaker. 

The  wealth  of  laces  that  passed  through  my  hands 
during  this  period  would  beggar  description.  Fre- 
quently I  was  anxious  for  the  intrinsic  value  of  the 
laces  and  jewels  that  were  entrusted  to  my  care 
during  the  making  of  gowns.  I  particularly  re- 
member a  study  in  black  and  white  which  I  made 
for  the  Princess  Alexis  Dologorouki.  I  had  to  have 
special  watchmen  in  my  studios,  to  carefully  guard 
the  diamonds  and  laces  used  in  the  creation  of  this 
gown.    Their  value  represented  a  colossal  sum. 


—228- 


CHAPTER  XII 

PERSONAL  ANECDOTES  OF  QUEEN  MARY 

Those  first  days  of  my  career  as  court  dress- 
maker in  London  were  always  sustained  by  a  firm 
knowledge  that  I  understood  the  point  of  view  of 
those  aristocratic  women  whose  aristocracy  was 
based  on  the  high  ideals  of  character.  It  has  not 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  many  dressmakers  to  have  been 
able  to  have  gowned  so  many  queens  and  other  royal 
women  as  I  have  had  the  honour  to  do.  My  port- 
folio is  filled  with  the  most  charming  appreciative 
epistles  from  them.  The  letters  are  too  numerous 
to  enumerate.  I  have  selected  only  a  few  for  re- 
production here.  Obviously,  they  are  one  and  all 
equally  precious  to  me,  though  I  have  a  feeling  that 
the  regard  which  Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary  has  so 
often  graciously  expressed,  is  perhaps  a  little  closer 
to  my  heart. 

I  have  known  Her  Majesty  since  she  was  quite 
a  young  girl.  In  her  mode  of  dressing  her  taste 
was  always  conservative,  never  extreme,  never  loud 

—229— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

or  conspicuous.  Her  favourite  colours  were  always 
pale  rose  and  pale  blues.  Sometimes,  in  later  years, 
white  or  black  predominated. 

I  had  the  honour  of  making  her  bridesmaids* 
dresses.  The  mere  mention  of  their  names  seems  to 
conjure  up  strange  influences  that  should  have 
maintained  an  everlasting  peace  in  Europe.  They 
were  such  sweet  princesses,  such  sensible  girls,  these 
embryonic  Queens  of  Europe. 

I  can  see  them  as  they  were  at  this  royal  wed- 
ding of  Queen  Mary  to  King  George,  looking  for- 
ward to  their  own  careers  with  the  usual  reserve  and 
excitement  of  any  bridesmaids. 

They  were  the  young  Princesses  Victoria  and 
Maud  of  England,  the  Danish  Princesses,  Thyra 
and  Ertrude;  then  there  was  the  daughter  of  Her 
Royal  Highness,  the  Duchess  of  Albany,  now  the 
Princess  of  Battenberg,  and  the  little  Princess  Ena, 
now  the  Queen  of  Spain.  They  were  a  most  irre- 
sistible bouquet  of  rosebuds,  simple,  very  chaste- 
looking  in  their  white  peau  de  sole,  carrying  bunches 
of  deep  crimson  geraniums,  which  suited  them  to 
perfection.  Each  Princess,  daintily  and  with  meas- 
ured steps,  walked  behind  the  then  Duchess  of 
York,  the  bride,  the  present  Queen  Mary  of  Eng- 
land. Princess  Victoria  was  very  stately;  she  car- 
—230— 


ANECDOTES  OF  QUEEN  MARY 

ried  herself  with  perfect  poise.  She  was  of  the 
spirituelle  type,  and  by  disposition  very  amiable. 
The  Princess  Maud,  now  the  Queen  of  Norway, 
was  very  petite,,  piquant,  full  of  the  joy  of  living, 
as  she  tripped  along  in  this  wonderful  procession 
with  the  little  Danish  Princesses.  These  latter, 
perhaps  not  having  imbibed  the  full  freedom  of  an 
English  Court,  were  a  trifle  timid  and  overwhelmed 
with  the  splendour  of  the  event,  yet  they  were 
charming  girls.  The  younger  Princesses,  mere 
children  then,  were  Princess  Ena,  now  Queen  of 
Spain,  and  the  little  daughter  of  Her  Royal  High- 
ness, the  Duchess  of  Albany.  I  remember  that 
they  strongly  objected  to  wearing  decollete  gowns 
at  all,  and  I  had  to  use  great  discretion  and  tact 
with  them.  In  the  intervening  years  these  charm- 
ing girls  of  royal  blood  have  scattered  over  Eu- 
rope. I  wonder  if  in  the  midst  of  the  present  tur- 
moil they  remember  those  lovely  times,  if  they  feel 
at  all  sad.  How  they  must  realise  in  these  remem- 
brances that  the  world,  even  for  royal  princesses 
and  queens,  is  not  all  coleur  de  rose! 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  know  Her  Majesty 
Queen  Mary  since  she  was  a  child,  and  in  all  those 
years,  her  graciousness,  her  unbounded  cordiality, 
her  kindness,  will  be  like  a  beacon  light  showing 

—231— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

me  back  to  the  land  of  my  adoption.  I  had  the 
honour  of  making  Her  Majesty's  coronation  gown 
of  white  satin  duchesse  embroidered  in  gold  cilisee, 
in  return  for  which  she  paid  me  the  compliment  of 
sending  me  her  autographed  portrait,  that  I  might 
never  forget  how  beautiful  she  looked.  When  I 
went  for  the  last  glimpse  of  this  beautiful  gown, 
Her  Majesty  put  on  her  crown  of  diamonds,  so 
that  I  could  see  her  in  all  her  glory.  It  was  a 
unique  experience,  but  then  I  had  many  extraor- 
dinary favours  shown  me  by  these  exclusive,  royal 
women,  that  I  shall  always  regard  as  tokens  of  per- 
sonal character.  It  was  my  good  fortune  when 
Her  Majesty  went  to  India  to  make  nearly  all  her 
toilettes,  and  I  had  great  difficulty  in  some  meas- 
ure, as  I  could  not  use  any  tarnishable  trimmings 
or  fabrics  that  would  not  stand  the  climatic  influ- 
ences. 

Her  Majesty  usually  received  me  courteously, 
graciously,  and  more  or  less  formally.  She  has  al- 
ways been  overpoweringly  kind,  and  should  these 
lines  find  their  way  to  her,  Queen  Mary  of  England 
will  see  that  notwithstanding  that  I  am  an  exile 
in  a  strange  land,  I  am  a  loyal  and  devoted  sub- 
ject of  Great  Britain. 

My  memories  of  Queen  Mary  run  into  such  ador- 
—232— 


ANECDOTES  OF  QUEEN  MARY 

able  and  delightful  channels,  that  I  hardly  know 
where  to  begin  with  incident  and  anecdote  that 
will  confirm  my  adoration  of  her. 

I  remember  one  day  when  my  business  with  her 
at  the  palace  was  finished  and  I  had  nearly  reached 
the  ante-chamber,  the  footman  called  me  back. 

"Her  Majesty  would  very  much  like  to  see  you." 

I  thought,  naturally,  it  was  upon  the  business 
upon  which  I  had  come  to  see  her.  When  I  re- 
turned, I  found  in  her  room  an  enormous  basket  of 
lilies-of-the-v alley  which  had  just  been  sent  to  the 
Queen  from  the  country. 

"Please  take  as  many  as  you  like,  my  dear,  for 
your  invalid  husband,"  said  Her  Majesty. 

One  Saturday  afternoon,  after  business  hours, 
my  private  telephone  was  ringing.  My  secretary 
having  left,  I  spoke  on  the  telephone  myself. 

"Who  is  it?" 

"Could  Madame  Frederic  come  over  to  Bucking- 
ham Palace  at  once,  to  see  the  Queen  on  a  private 
matter?" 

"Of  course,  I  shall  be  with  Her  Majesty  as  soon 
as  possible,"  I  said. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  palace,  Lady  Bertha  Daw- 
kins,  one  of  the  sweetest,  most  loyal,  and  most  lov- 
able women  one  could  imagine,  told  me  that  Her 

—233— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Majesty  would  like  to  consult  me  upon  a  rather 
difficult  matter.  The  ladies  of  Ireland  had  pro- 
posed to  send  Her  Majesty  some  of  their  beautiful 
home-made  Irish  crochet  and  lace  offerings.  Her 
Majesty  graciously  asked  would  I  help  her  to 
choose  these  laces.  Being  known  more  or  less  as  an 
expert,  Her  Majesty  assumed  that  I  might  suggest 
something  new. 

"Would  Her  Majesty  like  a  lace  train,  made  up 
to  hang  as  a  Dalmatian  mantle,  from  the  shoul- 
ders?" I  asked. 

"Excellent  idea,  my  dear,  you  have  it  cut  out 
and  we  will  send  it  to  Ireland,"  said  Her  Majesty. 

It  took  nearly  six  months  to  complete  it,  but  it 
was  beautifully  executed,  and  I  had  the  honour 
of  making  it  up  over  the  most  delicate  rose  col- 
oured chiffon  royale,  and  Her  Majesty  wore  it  on 
a  very  important  occasion.  To  many  people  roy- 
alty seems  so  far  removed  from  normal  conditions, 
that  when  they  do  behave  quite  normally,  as  any 
other  person,  the  majority  can  scarcely  believe  that 
it  is  true.  In  this  country,  such  a  condition  was 
thought  to  be  impossible,  but  you  still  have  tradi- 
tions in  the  making.  In  Europe,  if  a  Queen  gra- 
ciously invites  her  subject  not  to  stand,  shakes  her 
cordially  by  the  hand,  and  asks  many  every-day 
— ?34— 


ANECDOTES  OF  QUEEN  MARY 

questions,  notwithstanding  one  may  come  as  a  "per- 
son in  trade,"  it  is  very  unusual.  That  such  an 
event  occurred  to  me,  is  therefore  perhaps  interest- 
ing to  recall. 

Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary, — perhaps  through 
force  of  habit, — having  seen  me  continually  since 
she  was  a  child,  on  one  occasion  gave  me  a  delight- 
ful surprise  of  this  character.  It  was  when  she  was 
Princess  of  Wales  and  was  living  at  York  House. 
I  had  been  on  my  feet  fitting  Her  Royal  Highness 
with  twenty-two  gowns,  and  I  was  tired  and  hun- 
gry. That  didn't  matter,  but  possessing  the  traits  of 
a  charming  manner,  the  Princess  suddenly  dropped 
all  royal  etiquette,  and  invited  me  to  share  an  im- 
provised lunch  with  her.  I  was  at  first  very  much 
embarrassed.  A  footman  brought  in  upon  a  tray 
of  silver,  served  in  exquisite  silver  cups,  some  jel- 
lied chicken.  I  can  even  now  inhale  the  aroma  of 
that  delicious  food,  of  the  cold  dainties,  and  the  lit- 
tle accessories,  which  made  a  most  enjoyable  meal. 
Her  Majesty,  then  Princess  of  Wales,  was  inclined 
to  be  very  jocular  in  conversation,  sometimes  a 
little  cynical,  yet  very  witty.  She  made  me  laugh 
at  her  observations  in  general  upon  subjects  which 
did  not  apply  to  the  dressmaker's  art  at  all.  To  re- 
peat the  conversation  would  be  unbecoming  of  the 

—235— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

privilege  I  enjoyed,  but  it  left  the  impression  not 
usually  understood  of  the  present  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, of  a  very  witty,  worldly,  democratic  woman. 

While  my  memory  dwells  upon  the  personality 
of  this  delightful  Queen,  I  recall  a  meeting  at  the 
Zoological  Gardens  in  London,  where  I  went  with 
my  late  husband  and  my  grandnieces,  like  every- 
body else,  to  see  the  elephants.  We  had  no  sooner 
entered  than  we  saw  Her  Royal  Highness,  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  accompanied  by  Lady  Eva 
Dugdale,  also  deeply  interested  in  the  elephants. 

I  bowed  ceremoniously,  and  Her  Royal  High- 
ness graciously  turned  to  me. 

"Present  me  to  your  husband,"  she  said.  He 
stood  at  attention,  saluted,  and  conversed  with  her. 

"Who  are  these  dear  little  girls?"  asked  the  Prin- 
cess. 

"My  grandnieces,"  I  replied. 

Her  Royal  Highness  shook  hands  with  these  chil- 
dren, and,  of  course,  they  never  forgot  it,  nor  does 
any  one  else  ever  forget  the  honour  of  shaking 
hands  with  a  Queen. 

Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary  was  always  very  ten- 
der-hearted and  punctiliously  considerate  of  others. 

"My  dear,  why  are  you  in  mourning?"  she  asked 
me  once. 

—236— 


ANECDOTES  OF  QUEEN  MARY 

"My  sister  just  lost  her  eldest  boy,  nineteen  years 
of  age,  at  college,"  I  said. 

"How  very  sad !  Pray  convey  to  your  sister  how 
I  feel  for  her,  and  how  very  sorry  I  am  for  her. 
Please  do  not  forget,"  said  Her  Majesty. 

In  times  of  real  sorrow,  or  grief,  or  trouble  to 
others,  Queen  Mary  has  always  been  kindness  it- 
self. Her  exalted  rank  was  an  unforeseen  destiny. 
As  a  girl,  Her  Majesty  was  brought  up  with  great 
care  and  economy,  and  her  young  days  were  not 
those  of  unalloyed  happiness  and  wealth.  The 
household  of  the  Queen's  late  parents  was  not  at 
all  extravagant,  in  fact  it  was  very  simple.  Her 
Governess,  the  late  Madame  Brica,  was  of  Polish 
extraction,  and  she  gave  Princess  Mary  of  Teck  a 
very  sound  education.  The  Queen  speaks  French 
and  German  brilliantly.  Most  of  her  lessons  were 
supervised  by  her  father,  the  late  Duke  of  Teck. 
The  late  Madame  Brica  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
the  psychic,  the  late  Mrs.  Morgan  Richards,  the 
mother  of  the  brilliant  Mrs.  Pearl  Craigie,  the  nov- 
elist who  wrote  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  Oliver 
Hobbs.  It  was  through  Mrs.  Richards  that  I  be- 
came known  to  the  late  Duchess  of  Teck.  In  her 
own  picturesque  way,  it  was  Mrs.  Morgan  Richards 
who  predicted  that  Princess  Mary  of  Teck  would 

—237— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

become  Queen  of  England.  The  incident  at  which 
this  prediction  was  made,  in  the  home  of  the  Duke 
of  Teck,  savoured  of  the  occult,  but  Mrs.  Morgan 
Richards  was,  I  believe,  a  spiritualist. 

It  was  just  after  the  late  Duke  of  Clarence,  to 
whom  Princess  Mary  was  betrothed,  had  passed 
away  at  such  an  early  age,  when  the  chances  that 
she  would  become  Queen  of  England  were  very  re- 
mote. In  the  presence  of  the  Princess  Mary  and 
her  family,  the  late  Mrs.  Morgan  Richards  de- 
picted in  her  flowery  way  the  future  of  the  Queen. 

"I  see,"  said  Mrs.  Richards,  "the  clouds  are 
rolling  away.  I  see  a  huge  crown  which  comes 
nearer  and  nearer,  behold  it  falls  into  the  lap  of 
the  young  Princess  Mary.  I  predict  that  she  will 
become  Queen  of  England." 

When  Prince  George  proposed  and  was  ac- 
cepted, Mrs.  Morgan  Richards'  prediction  came 
true. 

When  the  Princess  Royal,  Louise  Victoria,  be- 
came the  Duchess  of  Fife,  her  trousseau  was  most 
generously  and  lavishly  submitted  by  all  the  trades- 
people. Her  mother,  Queen  Alexandra,  at  that 
time  Princess  of  Wales,  allotted  a  room  for  each 
firm  to  display  their  latest  and  newest  modes.  I 
remember  so  well,  wandering  with  Her  Royal 
—238— 


ANECDOTES  OF  QUEEN  MARY 

Highness,  Princess  of  Wales,  through  all  these 
rooms,  where  we  saw  the  most  beautiful  fabrics  of 
all  tints  of  the  rainbow.  It  was  my  privilege  to 
make  for  the  Princess  Royal  some  pale  blue  mauve 
shell  and  white  gowns.  An  Indian  shawl  which 
"Grandma"  (Queen  Victoria)  had  given,  I  con- 
verted into  a  charming  mantelet.  Its  success  was 
great,  for  the  shawl  by  itself,  notwithstanding  its 
value,  which  ran  into  four  figures,  would  never  have 
appealed  to  a  young  girl  had  I  not  fashioned  it 
into  something  graceful.  After  that,  Indian  shawls 
came  to  me  galore,  and  so  late  as  just  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  present  war  I  made  of  one  a  very 
lovely  sorti  de  bal  for  Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary. 
Relieved  with  cerise  velvet,  and  fringed  in  all  the 
Indian  colours,  it  proved  quite  a  success. 

Her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria's  preference  for 
Indian  shawls  as  wedding  presents,  was  one  of  the 
standing  humours  of  England  during  the  last  years 
of  her  reign. 


-239-* 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SOME  BEAUTIFUL  AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN 

ENGLAND 

As  I  approach  the  end  of  these  scattered  rem- 
iniscences, I  find  myself  on  the  peaks  of  modernity, 
from  which  I  have  really  been  surveying  the  years 
gone  by.  It  is  only  a  little  while  ago,  it  seems,  that 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  so  many  American 
women  who  came  to  England  and  married  English 
titles.  The  American  woman  was  an  entirely  new 
type  to  the  English  dressmaker.  There  was  more 
of  the  French  quality  about  her  than  one  found  in 
the  purely  Saxon  beauties  of  England.  As  to  the 
success  of  these  marriages,  the  world  has  heard 
more  or  less  remarkable  circumstances.  I  have  no 
special  knowledge  upon  which  to  base  an  opinion 
as  to  the  happiness  of  these  international  romances. 
It  has  been  said  that  some  of  them  contain  the  ro- 
mantic spice,  or  the  sociological  theme,  so  to  say,  of 
that  famous  and  extraordinary  story,  "Three 
Weeks." 

—240— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

The  mention  of  this  novel  recalls  an  incident, 
when  one  very  rainy  night  my  butler  announced  the 
Honourable  Mrs.  Glyn,  a  Belgian  lady,  who  was 
the  wife  of  Bishop  Glyn.  We  often  used  to  chat 
in  French,  as  our  nieces  were  educated  in  the  same 
private  school  in  Westgate-on-Sea. 

There  stood  the  Honourable  Mrs.  Glyn,  and  by 
her  side,  a  slip  of  a  girl,  tall,  graceful,  more  than 
usually  oblivious  of  her  peculiar  type  of  beauty, 
smiling  languidly,  and  bowing  a  little  ceremoni- 
ously. The  conversation  naturally  began  in  the 
stereotyped  way  about  the  weather,  and  as  it  was 
pouring  torrents  she  deplored  the  fact  of  the  ab- 
sence of  an  umbrella  which  she  imagined  she  must 
have  left  at  home.  I  often  wonder  how  true  the 
saying  is  that  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  be- 
fore, for  this  young  genius  standing  there  so 
quietly,  so  unassuming  in  her  manner,  really  had 
then  the  power  to  make  people  look  at  her  intensely. 
She  created  at  once  an  atmosphere  of  curiosity  and 
wonder. 

She  was  no  ordinary  slip  of  a  girl.  The  fire  of 
genius  was  alight  already  in  her  wonderful  green- 
grey  eyes,  and  apparently  bored  and  apathetic,  she 
took  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  room.    Being 

—241— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

attracted  by  some  gowns  which  were  just  being  de- 
livered, she  said: 

"Some  day,  when  my  ship  comes  in,  I  shall  cer- 
tainly come  to  see  you." 

She  was,  to  say  the  least,  poorly  clad. 

"This  is  my  daughter-in-law,"  said  the  Honour- 
able Mrs.  Glyn,  "my  boy  has  just  married  her," 
and  then  in  French  she  said,  "without  the  consent 
of  his  parents." 

Really,  I  couldn't  blame  him,  for  the  girl  was  a 
beautiful  creature.  There  was  a  weirdness  about 
her  beauty  that  was  mischievous,  and  yet  she  made 
a  Madonna-like  appeal.  I  gazed  at  her,  wondering 
what  the  future  of  this  strange  girl  might  be. 

This  was  Elinor  Glyn,  who  wrote  "Three 
Weeks"  and  became  famous.  When  I  heard  of  it 
I  was  not  astonished,  for  I  still  remembered  how 
the  hidden  fires  of  her  genius  smouldered  in  her 
wonderful  eyes,  as  she  stood  before  me  that  night  in 
her  very  shabby  little  gown,  and  her  carefully 
mended  gloves. 

I  wonder  if  the  famous  writer  remembers  this  lit- 
tle unimportant  incident.  I  wonder  if  her  good- 
looking  mother-in-law  still  lives,  for  I  have  not  seen 
her  for  many  years. 

In  this  connection,  I  am  reminded  with  equal  in- 
—242— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

terest,  when  Mrs.  Harcourt  Williams,  a  journalist 
of  prominence  in  London,  urged  me  to  meet  a  little 
woman  whom  she  had  discovered, — a  Mrs.  Wallace. 

"She  is  so  pretty,  and  makes  the  most  adorable 
blouses,"  said  Mrs.  Williams,  "I  think  she  is  quite 
a  genius." 

I  never  met  her,  but  evidently  she  did  have 
genius,  for  in  later  years,  she  became  the  famous 
dressmaker  "Lucile," — Lady  DufF-Gordon. 

Among  the  beautiful  American  women  whom  I 
knew  was  Consuelo,  Duchess  of  Manchester.  She 
was  the  lovely  Miss  Ysnaga  of  Baltimore,  who  in- 
herited her  millions  from  her  late  brother. 

The  Duchess  of  Manchester  was  unconventional 
in  the  sense  that  she  was  so  democratic.  She  was 
no  stickler  for  etiquette.  I  remember  one  Sunday, 
when  we  were  boating  on  the  river  Thames,  and  had 
just  paddled  into  a  little  side  stream  and  had  our 
lunch,  there  drifted  in  beside  us,  another  small  boat. 
They  had  lost  their  rudder,  and  my  husband  and 
I  offered  to  pull  them  back  into  the  broad  water. 
Lady  Mandeville,  who  was  in  the  party,  promptly 
turned  around  and  asked  me  if  they  could  share 
our  little  picnic  lunch,  as  they  were  so  very  hungry. 
How  we  enjoyed  this  little  incident,  exciting  for 
them,  particularly  interesting  to  us.    Consuelo  was 

—243— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

not  so  very  rich  then,  and  her  aristocratic  mother- 
in-law  inspired  her  with  awe.  She  was  very  pretty, 
and  her  marriage  with  the  Duke,  or  rather  Lord 
"Manderville"  as  he  was  called  by  his  cronies,  for 
he  was  very  fond  of  champagne,  was  an  event.  He 
died  comparatively  young,  in  the  midst  of  his  wild 
oats.  His  son  married  Miss  Zimmerman  of  Cin- 
cinnati, but  I  believe  he  did  not  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  father.  Consuelo  of  Manchester  was 
particularly  fond  of  purple  and  black.  Her  skin 
was  of  a  dazzling  whiteness.  She  was  quite  tall, 
very  graceful,  but  it  seemed  to  me  she  was  afflicted 
with  perpetual  motion.  I  believe  it  was  a  nervous 
affliction.  She  was  a  very  great  favourite  of  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  later  Queen  Alexandra,  and 
her  untimely  death,  and  the  extraordinary  decease 
of  her  two  beautiful  daughters,  the  Ladies  Mon- 
tague, who  were  twins,  and  who  both  died  in  their 
teens,  was  a  great  shock  to  the  Dowager  Queen 
Alexandra. 

Mrs.  Pierre  Lorillard,  nee  Taylor,  was  another 
handsome  American  woman  whom  I  knew.  She 
was  tall,  slender,  with  masses  of  nut-brown  hair. 
She  was  extremely  dignified,  very  proud,  rarely 
smiled,  and  always  immaculate  in  her  toilettes.  For 
—244— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

my  personal  taste,  she  was  too  stiff.  Her  daugh- 
ters, I  believe,  do  not  resemble  her  in  the  least. 

Mrs.  Ronalds  Lorillard,  petite  and  fair,  whom  I 
gowned  while  she  was  in  London,  was  a  very  grace- 
ful and  charming  person,  who  affected  a  style  in 
dress  that  was  quite  her  own.  Her  little  mother 
always  insisted  upon  wearing  a  gown  of  grey  and 
white,  in  simple  Quaker  style.  I  believe  she  was  the 
second  wife.  Her  husband  often  came  with  her 
from  America,  and  we  had  long  talks,  compared 
notes  on  international  questions.  The  recollection 
of  my  acquaintance  with  all  these  delightful  Amer- 
ican men  and  women  adds  to  the  comfort  of  my 
transplanted  life  on  your  hospitable  shores. 

"La  Petite33  Livingston,  as  Miss  Livingston  was 
called  in  London,  was  another  American  girl  who 
appeared  in  London  society.  She  was  a  perfect  lit- 
tle Dresden  china  figure.  Being  an  only  daughter, 
and  being  brought  up  by  a  more  than  devoted  fa- 
ther and  uncle,  I  remember  how  anxious  these  gen- 
tlemen were  that  I  should  bestow  upon  her  dear 
little  person  every  possible  attention,  to  give  her 
the  best  and  the  most  expensive  to  be  had.  Money 
was  no  object.  I  designed  her  wedding  gown, 
which  was  of  oyster  white  crystalline,  in  princess 
style,  with  an  overdress  of  Buckinghamshire  lace. 

—245— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

The  veil  was  in  tulle,  falling  over  the  whole  gown, 
trimmed  with  myrtle  and  white  lilacs.  Her  going- 
away  dress  (it  was  late  autumn)  was  a  sapphire 
blue  velvet,  the  coat  of  which  was  trimmed  with 
Peruvian  chinchilla,  with  toque  and  muff  to  match. 
Her  trousseau  was  a  revelation,  and  she  was  so 
charmed  that  she  sent  me  a  beautiful  brooch  in  the 
shape  of  a  heart  made  of  diamonds  with  a  sapphire 
centre.  It  was  a  very  sweet  souvenir,  and  though 
many  years  have  gone  by,  I  cherish  the  memento. 

Those  American  girls  of  former  times  were  in- 
tensely interesting  because  they  were  so  clever. 
They  absorbed  everything  so  quickly,  and  they 
drifted  so  rapidly  into  the  burning  question  of  dress. 

In  former  years  the  fashionable  rendezvous  for 
many  leaders  in  society  was  Paris.  It  was  there 
that  Mrs.  Bayard  Cutting  and  Mrs.  Townsend 
Burden  created  a  sensation  among  American 
women  in  their  gowns  made  by  Worth.  Mrs. 
Townsend  Burden,  I  believe,  was  a  sister  of  the 
late  Pierpont  Morgan.  These  ladies  adopted  a 
very  severe  style,  but  were  regarded  as  examples 
of  grandes  dames. 

Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer  was  also  a  key  to  good  taste, 
she  was  always  tone-giving,  and  was  one  of  this 
—246— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

coterie  in  Paris  who  standardised  American  beauty 
in  Europe. 

The  extravagance  of  the  American  woman 
abroad  often  led  to  tragic  consequences.  I  remem- 
ber a  very  celebrated  and  very  famous  American, 
who  was  the  wife  of  an  author.  All  Paris  raved 
about  her  beauty,  her  style,  her  luxurious  mode  of 
life.  Her  carriages,  her  horses,  her  town  house  and 
her  country  house,  were  all  very  elegant.  She  was 
exclusively  gowned  by  Worth,  whose  creations  for 
her  cost  fabulous  prices.  She  never  seemed  to  count 
the  cost.  Then  she  fell  in  love  with  another  man, 
her  husband  remonstrated,  but — men  are  knaves 
and  women  are  fools,  and  the  old  story  seems  for- 
ever new.  The  husband  divorced  her,  and  shortly 
afterwards  died.  Later,  I  saw  this  woman  who 
almost  wielded  the  sceptre  of  a  queen,  creeping 
along  the  Boulevards  of  Paris,  when  the  lights  were 
dim,  a  sorrowful  object.  She  was  soliciting  alms 
of  passers-by.  She  was  truly  a  tragic  spectacle, 
and  yet  she  was  once  a  queen  among  American 
women  in  Paris. 

The  Princess  Hatzfeld,  formerly  Miss  Hunting- 
ton of  California  and  now  a  widow,  was  one  of  the 
wealthy  American  women  who  made  England  her 
home, — her  country.    Her  place  was  indeed  a  great 

—247— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

rendezvous  for  what  we  call  on  the  other  side,  the 
"sporting  set."  Her  husband  kept  a  well-stocked 
stable  of  thoroughbreds,  and  the  Princess  was  a  very 
good  horsewoman.  She  dressed  well,  and  looked 
very  chic  in  her  riding  habit.  In  her  earlier  days 
the  Prince  used  to  assist  her  in  choosing  her  gowns. 
I  remember  so  well  during  a  visit  she  made  to  my 
salons,  how  the  prince  himself  chose  for  her  a  beau- 
tiful toilette  of  grey  ardoise  satin  jupe,  demi-train. 
The  corsage  was  in  pale  rose  velvet,  with  a  broad 
black  moire  sash,  edged  with  narrow  black  moire 
ribbons,  and  a  jabot  of  real  lace. 

Mrs.  Hugh  Hallket  was  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful creatures  in  her  early  youth,  and  even  now, 
though  she  never  gets  up  until  sundown,  she  ap- 
pears almost  as  wonderful  as  Rider  Haggard's 
"She."  Before  the  war,  the  so-called  Jeunesse 
d'oree  used  to  rally  round  her  in  her  home  at  the  lit- 
tle Normandy  watering-place,  Dinard.  She  is 
famous  for  her  dancing  of  those  alluring  Tzigane 
waltzes.  She  is  really  a  modern  Ninon  de  L'En- 
clos.  Her  mother  remained  young  up  to  eighty, 
and  the  daughter  decidedly  follows  in  her  footsteps. 
She  is  a  brunette  with  wonderful  blue  eyes,  a  most 
graceful  figure,  which  she  still  retains;  she  is  won- 
derfully preserved,  defying  age  and  time  with  a 
—248— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

youthful  spirit.  Not  at  all  grotesque,  but  very 
spirituelle.  She  is  brilliantly  educated,  really  a 
great  musician,  a  painter  and  a  sculptor.  Her  tal- 
ents are  really  phenomenal.  She  is  unique,  because 
although  she  has  over-stepped  the  boundary  line  of 
three-score  years  and  ten,  she  still  holds  a  charm  for 
youth  that  seems  to  pursue  her  everywhere.  Her 
gowns,  discreet,  esthetic,  are  all  her  own  inspira- 
tion, and  I  felt  very  much  flattered  when  she  wrote 
to  me  at  London  to  send  her  one  of  my  own  ideas 
for  a  rest  gown.  It  was  in  the  palest  shade  of  lilac 
crepe  de  chine,,  looped  with  huge  cordelieres  in 
deeper  tones,  flowing  sleeves,  no  decolletage  to 
speak  of,  which  left  everything  to  the  imagination. 
"Princess  Nellie,"  as  Nellie  Grant's  friends  used 
to  call  her,  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  Ameri- 
can girls  imaginable.  When  she  travelled  with  her 
father,  the  late  President  Grant,  on  his  official  trip 
through  Europe,  she  was  magnificently  received  at 
all  the  Courts.  In  England,  she  enjoyed  the  pres- 
tige permitted  to  royalty  only,  and  I  have  often 
wondered  how  it  was  that  she  was  satisfied  to  dis- 
appear from  all  this  European  grandeur.  I  believe 
it  was  a  love  match.  Mr.  Sartoris,  her  husband,  I 
never  met,  but  I  could  not  understand  how  such  a 
plain  Lochinvar  should  win  one  of  the  most  ador- 

—249— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

able  girls  I  have  ever  seen.  Her  brother,  the  Amer- 
ican ambassador  to  Austria,  was  a  very  nice  fel- 
low. I  waltzed  with  him  when  he  was  a  young  man 
studying  in  New  York.  Her  daughters  gave 
grand  parties,  and  they  resembled  their  beautiful 
mother  very  much.  One  rarely  sees  such  colouring 
as  theirs.  They  were  neither  too  tall  nor  too  small, 
just  the  happy  medium.  They  inherited  the  smile 
with  which  their  mother  captivated  and  fascinated 
the  world  at  large.  Like  the  modest  violet,  she 
preferred  no  doubt  to  shine  in  a  little  garden  of 
her  own,  where  the  perfume  of  youth  and  the  sweet- 
ness of  her  disposition  could  remain  unspoiled  and 
untarnished.  My  task  in  gowning  her  was  there- 
fore a  very  easy  and  satisfactory  one.  I  presume, 
if  she  ever  should  read  these  lines,  she  will  remem- 
ber at  one  time  being  detained  for  hours  at  my  salon 
in  London,  because  she  had  missed  a  train  and  had 
to  wait.  How  patient  she  was,  and  with  what  in- 
terest she  listened  to  the  many  amusing  conversa- 
tions which  are  carried  on  in  a  dressmaking  estab- 
lishment. 

"I  enjoyed  this  intermezzo  immensely,"  she  said 
as  she  was  leaving,  "what  a  wonderful  existence. 
I  almost  envy  you,  such  a  perpetual  kaleidoscope 
of  interesting  people." 
—250— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

Indeed  she  was  right,  the  dressmaker's  salon  is 
where  you  see  woman  in  all  her  weaknesses,  her 
shortcomings,  and  her  ambitions. 

Most  of  you  will  remember  Edna  May,  and  her 
triumph  in  "The  Belle  of  New  York."  She  became 
the  ideal  of  all  London  before  she  married  Mr.  Os- 
car Lewisohn.  Strawberry  leaves  and  ducal  crowns 
were  laid  at  her  feet,  fortunes  were  offered  to  her, 
with  a  persistency  that  we  shall  never  know.  Yet 
this  pretty  little  woman  chose  wisely  and  well. 

Her  husband  is  still  very  much  in  love  with  her, 
she  has  changed  very  little,  if  at  all,  her  sweet  child- 
like smile  hovers  round  her  pretty  mouth  still.  She 
prefers  the  old-fashioned  taste,  even  to-day.  The 
huge  capes  which  our  grandmothers  admired  be- 
come her;  the  voluminous  furs  in  which  she  en- 
velops herself  still  hide  her,  and  she  still  peeps  out 
of  them  like  a  huge  doll.  I  know  she  adores  Eng- 
land, and  her  house  in  London,  but  her  husband 
prefers  it  to  New  York. 

Mrs.  Beach  Grant  was  another  of  those  beautiful 
American  women.  Her  daughter,  the  present 
Countess  of  Essex,  when  she  first  came  to  London, 
had  destiny  willed  it,  could  have  been  Lady  Curzon, 
but  I  believe  circumstances  made  her  change  her 
mind.    She  is  a  very  great  favourite  in  London  so- 

—251— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

ciety,  and  is  always  well  turned  out.  Her  sister 
was  the  most  brilliant  beauty,  married  very  young, 
and  lost  her  husband  very  soon.  I  believe  she  be- 
longed to  the  French  nobility. 

Mrs.  Beach  Grant  told  me  once  that  in  her  youth 
she  was  never  allowed  any  but  milk  foods,  as  she  was 
suffering  from  heart  disease.  She  is  still  hale  and 
hearty,  however.  Her  cousin,  Mrs.  Scott,  who  had  a 
most  tragic  end  in  London,  was  a  very  exquisite  and 
extravagant  dresser.  Every  time  she  came  to  Lon- 
don, she  ordered  toilettes  galore.  She  was,  or  her 
husband  was,  very  wealthy.  She  was  of  a  type  of 
beauty  that  made  her  look  almost  like  a  Creole. 
She  had  wonderful  hands  and  feet,  and  dressed  to 
perfection.  I  remember  making  a  ball  dress  for  her 
of  rose  pink  tulle  with  cerise  bows  of  velvet  and  a 
bunch  of  crimson  dahlias,  as  a  bouquet  de  corsage. 
While  waiting  for  her  carriage  to  go  to  the  ball, 
she  took  a  book  from  the  table  to  read.  She  had  been 
suffering  with  a  headache  and  it  is  supposed  she 
had  taken  a  dose  of  bromide,  probably  an  overdose. 
When  her  maid  came  to  tell  her  that  her  carriage 
was  waiting,  they  found  her,  book  in  hand,  dressed 
in  this  charming  gown, — dead.  The  next  morning 
I  received  a  wire  to  discontinue  her  orders  for 
other  gowns.  So,  this  charming  woman,  young, 
—252— 


AMERICAN  WOMEN  IN  LONDON 

beautiful,  rich,  admired,  passed  into  eternity  smil- 
ing, and  garbed  for  a  ball. 

Mrs.  Sam  Newhouse,  a  great  friend  and  protege 
of  the  late  Mrs.  Ronalds,  managed  to  climb  the  so- 
cial ladder,  with  a  great  eclat.  Mrs.  Newhouse  was 
very  pretty,  with  a  charming  figure.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  gowning  her  for  years.  She  was  cer- 
tainly quite  an  acquisition,  for  she  wore  her  clothes 
perfectly,  she  walked  well,  and  her  marvellous 
jewels  gave  her  great  notoriety.  I  was  told  that 
the  insurance  upon  her  pearls  was  the  highest  ever 
paid  in  New  York.  Her  great  friends  are  Mrs. 
Bradley  Martin  and  Lady  Craven,  whom  she 
helped  in  the  good  cause,  and  also  although  she 
has  a  town  house,  she  prefers  to  live  in  the  country 
where  she  gives  her  little  dinners  and  receptions. 

Alas,  alas,  these  absorbing  topics  of  gowns  are 
no  longer  de  rigueur  in  Europe.  We  do  not  speak, 
we  do  not  think,  we  do  not  produce  them.  To  be 
flippant,  to  be  interested  in  pomp  and  vanity  when 
the  death  knell  continually  booms  its  last  salute  to 
some  dear  one,  is  impossible. 

Still,  we  women  must  be  gowned,  even  at  the 
risk  of  being  called  vain. 

Vanity,  thy  name  is  woman. 

—253— 


CHAPTER  XIV 

HER  MAJESTY  THE  QUEEN  OF  ROUMANIA 

Whenever  I  am  asked  who,  among  the  queens 
of  Europe  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  know,  is  the 
most  beautiful,  I  can  say  without  hesitation,  it  is 
Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Roumania,  the  great- 
est reigning  beauty  in  Europe.  In  her  presence 
is  combined  the  royal  splendour  of  two  great  royal 
families.  She  is  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Ed- 
inburgh, the  granddaughter  of  Queen  Victoria, 
on  her  father's  side.  On  her  mother's  side,  who  was 
the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  of  Russia,  she  is  the 
granddaughter  of  the  late  Emperor  Alexander  of 
Russia,  who  was  assassinated.  Consider  for  a  min- 
ute what  a  heritage  of  personal  dignity  and  beauty 
this  Queen  of  Roumania  enjoys.  She  has  inherited 
her  superb  loveliness  from  her  ancestors,  in  an  un- 
precedented measure;  she  has  blended  the  barbaric 
grandeur  of  Russia  with  the  aristocratic  breeding 
of  the  House  of  Hanover  and  England.  When  a 
girl  of  sixteen  she  married  one  of  the  Hohenzol- 
—254— 


H.  M.  THE  QUEEN  OF  ROUMANIA 

lerns,  who  was  practically  adopted  by  the  late  King, 
and  the  late  Carmen  Sylva,  Queen  of  Roumania. 
I  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  them  both  inti- 
mately. 

The  present  Queen  of  Roumania  is  by  all  means  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  Queens  in  Europe.  The  most 
wonderful  part  of  her  regal  personality  is  her  real 
charm,  which  consists  in  the  fact  that  she  is  abso- 
lutely ignorant  of,  or  indifferent  to,  her  own  beauty 
and  her  peculiar  magnetic  gifts.  Her  head  is  set 
upon  her  shoulders  in  such  perfect  poise  and  pro- 
portion, that  it  has  been  compared  to  the  sculpture 
proportions  of  a  living  Juno.  It  is  crowned  with 
masses  of  the  most  luxurious  chestnut-coloured 
hair,  which  she  wears  in  a  luxurious  coil.  The  ef- 
fect is  classical  in  the  extreme,  and  her  calm,  clear- 
cut  features  add  to  an  impression  she  gives  of  a 
perfect  cameo.  She  prefers  the  costume  of  a  Rou- 
manian peasant.  Its  simplicity,  its  brilliant  col- 
ours, add  charm  that  enhances  her  mobile  features. 
She  has  the  most  wonderful  smile  of  any  woman  I 
ever  saw.  In  modern  dress,  the  Queen  of  Rou- 
mania prefers  always  the  long  lines.  Her  gowns 
are  usually  made  of  heavy  draperies,  caught  up 
with  precious  stones.  I  recall  I  had  the  honour  of 
producing  for  her  a  gown  of  gold  tissue  over  an 

^255— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

underdress  of  moire  souple  ivorie  entirely  covered 
with  turquoise  velvet  miroir,  caught  with  huge 
tassels  hanging  from  the  shoulders.  Her  wonder- 
ful hair  was  intertwined  with  huge  Caucasian  tur- 
quoise and  diamonds.    It  was  coronet  a  la  Russe. 

Her  stockings,  I  always  made  for  her,  were  espe- 
cially woven,  in  all  possible  shades  imaginable. 

The  first  time  I  met  Her  Majesty  was  when  she 
sent  for  me  on  a  special  occasion.  When  I  entered 
her  room,  her  husband  was  standing  not  very  far 
from  the  lounge  where  she  was  sitting.  They  both 
exclaimed  on  my  entrance,  for  my  resemblance  to 
the  late  Queen  of  Roumania,  Carmen  Sylva.  I  felt 
highly  complimented.  Her  husband,  now  the  King, 
who  was  then  Crown  Prince  of  Roumania,  was  a 
great  admirer  of  women.  I  noticed  that  he  was 
looking  very  hard  at  the  little  English  girl  I  had 
brought  with  me  as  an  assistant.  In  fact,  he  was 
so  absorbed  in  admiration  that  he  did  not  see  a  step- 
ladder  which  had  been  left  in  the  room  for  the  hang- 
ing of  some  curtains.  Naturally,  he  fell  over  the 
ladder.  We  all  laughed,  none  more  heartily  than 
Her  Majesty,  because  we  all  knew  why  he  had 
failed  to  see  the  step-ladder,  we  all  knew  that  his 
eyes  were  rivetted  upon  the  pretty  little  English 
milliner. 

—256— 


I  /J UJ  UL  WJAlEStHFi  U  i  U  J    C  U KSKi 


.    ^w-^V .  W  •  ^< •</,/// .c  '/invipe/e k  nomd/u'et. 

iffr'pittf    </,•  .1  rttt/.t    .*.,-./  //«v/     •//   n'/i/i'/t'/r/irA-    est  /'/v:ii/Y/tiV/w/iv 


"'>%.,/..„.■.,/„/... 


•"/•" 


7i  T  ^ 


T      1^. 


CERTIFICATE    GIVEN    BY    THE    QUEEN    OF    R0UMAN1A 

"Her  delightful  Majesty,"  as  the  author  calls  her,  Queen  of  Roumania,  sent 
the  Baroness  her  appointment,  with  a  eulogistic  epistle  from  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 


H.  M.  THE  QUEEN  OF  ROUMANIA 

Whenever  I  saw  the  Queen  of  Roumania,  her 
wonderful  adaptability  as  a  linguist  was  simply 
astounding.  We  conversed  in  three  languages, 
which  she  had  mastered  brilliantly,  in  fact  it  was 
difficult  to  say  which  really  was  her  own  language. 
She  had  a  beautiful  voice,  she  was  a  brilliant  mu- 
sician, and  a  clever  painter.  She  is  one  of  those  few 
mortals  upon  whom  the  gods  shower  their  wealth 
of  genius  and  talent.  Her  eldest  daughter,  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  is  equally  ravishing,  admirable 
and  lovely.  Court  gossip,  fame  and  rumour  have 
often  announced  the  engagement  of  Princess  Eliza- 
beth. This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  since  she  is 
one  of  a  family  exceptionally  gifted,  with  personal 
beauty,  and  delightful  disposition. 

When  I  was  honoured  with  the  royal  appoint- 
ment to  Her  Majesty,  Queen  of  Roumania,  the 
document  came  to  me  accompanied  with  a  most 
courteous  letter  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  Roumanian  Court,  which  seems  impregnated 
with  all  the  gracious  tact  and  demeanour  of  the  best 
Courts  in  Europe.  They  have  probably  absorbed 
the  example  from  the  beautiful  Queen  of  Rou- 
mania and  the  most  jovial  King. 

Her  Majesty  most  graciously  presented  me  with 
her  photograph,  which  I  prize  most  zealously  and 

—257— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

keep  always  before  me.  None  of  Her  Majesty's 
sisters  can  lay  claim  to  such  beauty  as  hers,  though 
the  Grand  Duchess  Cecil,  who  was  previously 
Grand  Duchess  of  Hesse,  and  her  sister,  the  Duch- 
ess of  Montpensier,  cousins  of  King  Alfonso  of 
Spain,  are  still  considered  very  good  looking  and 
distingue.  They  have  the  inherent  pride  and  regal 
bearing  of  their  mother,  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie 
of  Russia,  who  became  the  Duchess  of  Edin- 
burgh. 

The  way  I  met  Carmen  Sylva  was  very  unusual, 
and  quite  romantic.  It  was  when  I  was  travelling 
with  my  late  husband  through  the  Bavarian  Alps. 
I  had  sauntered  away  with  an  interesting  book,  and 
choosing  a  very  secluded  spot,  I  found  one  of  those 
rustic  seats,  where  with  my  little  Pomeranian  we 
made  ourselves  comfortable.  I  was  deep  in  the  en- 
joyment of  my  book  when  two  ladies  approached 
and  asked  if  they  might  sit  beside  me,  as  they  had 
been  walking  a  long  distance.  So  began  a  very  in- 
teresting conversation.  We  discussed  politics, 
ethics,  nearly  every  subject  under  the  sun,  and  I 
was  completely  charmed  with  the  brilliancy  of  the 
one  lady,  who  had  the  most  beautiful  white  hair 
imaginable.  It  was  with  real  regret  that  I  said  au 
revoir.  Later,  when  I  was  going  to  meet  my  hus- 
—258-- 


H.  M.  THE  QUEEN  OF  ROUMANIA 

band,  I  met  one  of  those  picturesque  Bavarian  men 
of  the  Tyrol,  who,  in  his  rather  clever,  delightful, 
musical  dialect,  asked  me  if  I  knew  who  the  lady- 
was  I  had  been  conversing  with  in  so  animated  a 
manner. 

"That  was  Carmen  Sylva,  poetess  and  Queen  of 
Roumania,"  he  said. 

Dear  Queen,  she  sleeps  peacefully  now.  She  was 
a  wonderful  soul,  charitable,  kind.  She  was  a 
Princess  of  Wied  before  she  married  Carl  of  Rou- 
mania. She  was  another  of  those  brilliant  meteors 
in  human  form  who  flash  upon  a  firmament  full  of 
smaller  stars,  yet,  she  remained  to  the  last  the  most 
brilliant  and  glowing  of  them  all.  Nothing  could 
take  away  from  her  the  burning  blaze  of  her  ideals. 

I  recall  another  incident,  which  almost  brought 
myself  and  my  husband  into  the  presence  of  King 
Ludwig  of  Bavaria,  he  who  was  called  the  Mad 
King.  We  were  travelling  through  the  Bavarian 
Alps,  and  reached  Innsbruck  very  late  one  night, 
with  our  postillions,  luggage  and  servants.  All  the 
hotels  seemed  full.  At  the  Innsbruck  Hof  the  ami- 
able Tyrolean  host  must  have  taken  us  for  some 
foreign  potentates,  for  he  told  us  most  apologeti- 
cally that  the  only  vacant  room  in  his  house  be- 
longed to  the  King  of  Bavaria,  who  was  absent  on 

—259— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

a  hunt,  and  as  His  Majesty  was  not  returning  on 
that  night  we  might  occupy  it  if  we  would.  We 
accepted  at  once,  of  course,  and  were  ushered  into 
a  room  of  magnificent  proportions  perfumed  with 
pine  boughs,  and  with  a  huge  fourposter  bed  that 
looked  most  inviting  to  the  weary  travellers.  Be- 
fore a  fire  of  huge  pine  logs,  from  a  table  beauti- 
fully carved  and  so  large  that  the  snowy  cloth  failed 
to  cover  half  of  it,  we  dined  on  scrambled  eggs,  a 
bottle  of  Tyrolean  wine,  delicious  black  bread  and 
fresh  butter,  such  fare  as  only  a  few  hours  before 
had  been  placed  on  the  same  table  for  that  hand- 
some, genial,  poetical  King  that  many  people  call 
Mad  King  Ludwig  of  Bavaria.  Personally,  I  can- 
not believe  that  he  was  mad.  Eccentric,  perhaps, 
yet  a  soul  that  could  conceive  such  adorable  ideas, 
such  an  enormous  wealth  of  idealism,  such  artistic 
sentiment,  could  be  considered  mad  only  by  the 
vulgar,  who  ever  fail  to  understand  the  soul  of 
the  artist.  His  one  real  and  only  love,  the  Duch- 
ess d'Alencon,  who  lost  her  life  in  that  terrible  fire 
in  the  bazaar  at  Paris,  he  could  never  forget. 

Those  lovely  sisters,  the  Duchess  d'Alencon  and 
the  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria,  were  universally 
admired.    When  the  Empress  hunted  in  Ireland, 
—260— 


H.  M.  THE  QUEEN  OF  ROUMANIA 

every  one  adored  her  for  her  great  pluck  and  her 
audacious  courage.  I  often  saw  her,  and  I  with  all 
the  rest  of  the  world  was  shocked  inexpressibly  at 
her  untimely  death  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin. 


—261— 


CHAPTER  XV 

OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

One  realises,  vividly,  what  this  fearful  night- 
mare of  war  in  which  Europe  now  sleeps,  really  is, 
as  one  looks  upon  those  days  of  royal  power  and 
grandeur,  when  the  splendour  of  Kings  was  at  its 
height.  Shall  I  ever  forget  the  great  ball  given  in 
London  to  which  I  received  a  card  of  invitation, 
given  in  honour  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  and  his  con- 
sort !  The  horror  of  Zeppelins  and  submarines  was 
as  remote  then  as  the  end  of  the  world  is  to-day. 

The  Kaiserin  was  resplendent  in  a  toilette  of 
Eastern  fabric  and  colour,  wearing  the  most  superb 
jewels  imaginable,  a  gorgeous  figure  of  an  Em- 
press. 

The  Kaiser  in  the  uniform  of  a  British  General, 
with  the  order  of  the  Star  and  Garter  on  his  breast. 
He  was  an  imposing  and  benignant  figure,  though 
rather  stern.  He  was  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
foreign  attaches.  I  cannot  believe  that  he  is  the 
instigator  of  the  fearful  holocaust  of  human  life  in 
Europe.  Every  one  who  knows  anything  about 
—262— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

his  personality  remembers  how  he  once  adored 
everything  English,  how  warmly  he  felt  towards 
his  royal  cousins,  and  towards  the  land  where  his 
royal  mother  was  born.  One  must  only  imagine 
that  some  mental  earthquake  could  have  changed 
so  wise  and  so  evenly  balanced  a  mind.  But, 
I  am,  perhaps,  anticipating  events! 

The  reception,  when  in  London,  to  His  Imperial 
Majesty,  the  German  Kaiser,  was  very  cordial. 
His  feelings,  however,  could  only  be  surmised, 
not  specified;  if  he  had  already  concluded  in  his 
mind  his  future  aggressive  thoughts,  or  if  he  really 
came  as  a  guest  and  friend  to  the  British  Isles,  is 
almost  impossible  to  define.  I  always  thought 
him  a  friend  of  dear  old  England,  staunch  and 
true  to  the  colours  of  his  mother's  birthplace.  Yet 
— fCerare  human  est" — perhaps  I  saw  in  his  stern 
graven  features  something  which  the  world  had 
not  recognised,  and  if  a  mental  earthquake  shook 
the  evenly  balanced  potentate,  only  Divinity  knows. 
Relationships  in  war-time  do  not  count;  all  is  ab- 
sorbed in  the  only  manner,  to  do  the  best  for  one's 
country  always! 

I  must  not  become  involved  in  the  burning  ques- 
tion of  the  day,  which  is  so  remote  from  these 
brilliant  memories. 

—263— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

It  is  not  difficult,  in  imagination,  to  be  seated  in 
my  box  at  Buckingham  Palace,  as  I  was  then,  and 
to  find  myself  looking  out  upon  the  ball-room  floor. 

I  see  from  my  box  King  George  dancing  grace- 
fully with  the  Princess  Louischen.  I  see  their  Maj- 
esties the  Emperor  of  Germany  and  the  Dow- 
ager Queen  Alexandra,  in  a  quadrille.  I  see 
Queen  Mary  of  England,  in  her  favourite  waltz, 
wearing  her  exquisite  toilette  of  silver  brocade,  her 
diamonds,  and  the  famous  Kohinoor,  the  African 
diamond,  and  the  largest  in  the  world,  worn  as  a 
pendant  on  her  brow  like  a  fixed  star.  It  was  on 
this  occasion,  at  the  supper,  part  of  it  served  on 
a  large  buffet,  that  the  historical  royal  gold  service 
of  which  I  spoke  was  used.  Until  the  early  hours 
of  the  morning  this  memorable  ball  kept  up.  I 
am  convinced  that  at  no  other  Court  in  Europe 
were  festivities  to  be  seen  on  such  a  magnificent 
scale.  They  were  actually  unknown  at  other 
courts.  The  Court  of  King  Edward  VII  set  the 
pace  for  splendour  and  wealth  of  everything,  and 
the  Court  of  King  George  V  maintained  it,  so 
long  as  peace  prevailed.  I  believe  it  was  the  last 
great  occasion  in  England  when  the  Imperial 
guests  the  Kaiser  and  Kaiserin  of  Germany  were 
feted  and  entertained  there.  It  must  surely  re- 
—264— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

main  in  their  recollection  as  an  everlasting  and 
wonderful  souvenir  of  England,  an  expression  of 
the  good  will  from  the  people  of  all  classes  in  Eng- 
land. 

Who  could  believe  that  such  relationships  should 
ever  become  hostile. 

My  memories  involve  other  epoch-making  inci- 
dents in  the  history  of  royalty,  that  are  equally 
significant. 

When  Prince  Napoleon  (Lulu)  was  brought 
back  to  England  and  laid  to  rest  at  Chiselhurst,  I 
received  a  card  of  invitation  to  be  present  at  the 
Chapel,  from  the  Duke  de  Bassano,  and  Mons. 
Petri,  who  graciously  allotted  me  a  seat  there. 

The  little  Chapel  was  hung  in  dark  purple  vel- 
vet, with  silver  escutcheons  and  emblems  of  the 
house  of  Napoleon.  The  catafalque  standing  on  a 
raised  pedestal  surmounted  with  draperies  of  the 
same  colour,  on  which  was  laid  Prince  Napoleon's 
sword,  and  nothing  but  a  little  modest  bunch  of 
violets.  Many  of  Napoleon's  coterie  had  come 
over  from  Paris  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony, 
which  was  very  impressive.  The  clergy  in  their 
sumptuous  vestments,  the  melancholy  chant  of  the 
High  Mass,  it  was  all  awe-inspiring  and  sad  to  a 
degree.     The  tragic  and  dramatic  end  of  the  last 

—265— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

of  the  Napoleons  was  something  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. The  initials  R.  I.  P.  were  the  inspiration 
of  a  monster  cross  smothered  in  Russian  and 
Parma  violets.  Special  trains  were  arranged  at 
Chiselhurst  for  our  disposal  after  the  funeral  ser- 
vices, refreshments  were  also  served,  and  little 
mementoes  with  inscriptions  of  the  date  of  Prince 
Napoleon's  birth  and  death  on  the  white  and  pur- 
ple satin  ribbons  tied  about  them,  were  distributed. 

All  disaster,  however,  is  sudden,  and  that  which 
has  come  upon  us  in  Europe  really  seems  so  re- 
mote, even  in  the  comparatively  recent  years  of 
London's  gaiety. 

How  well  I  remember  the  mammoth  garden 
party  given  by  the  beautiful  Countess  of  Londes- 
borough  at  Dunstan  Lodge,  her  lovely  town  house 
in  Regent's  Park.  One  could  hardly  imagine 
one's  self  in  a  London  house.  Huge  meadows  pas- 
turing prize  sheep  and  cattle,  a  modern  model 
dairy,  great  trees  and  lovely  lakes,  with  beautiful 
flowers  everywhere,  these  were  the  surroundings 
at  Dunstan  Lodge.  In  years  gone  by  it  had  been 
a  royal  hunting  box,  belonging  to  one  of  the  royal 
Georges.  To-day  it  is  the  property  of  your  Amer- 
ican millionaire,  Otto  Kahn. 

At  this  memorable  garden  party,  which  was 
—266— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

given  to  celebrate  the  laying  of  the  foundation 
stone  of  a  cathedral  in  Salisbury,  near  Scar- 
borough, where  the  ancestral  estates  of  the  Londes- 
boroughs  are  situated,  besides  His  Majesty  King 
Edward  and  Queen  Alexandra,  one  met  the  entire 
elite  of  the  English  aristocracy.  The  party  being 
for  charity,  the  tickets  of  admission  were  five  and 
ten  guineas  each,  or  as  much  more  as  one  wished  to 
give.  As  many  of  the  toilettes  worn  on  this  gala 
occasion  were  of  the  House  of  Frederic,  I  was 
curious  and  anxious  to  see  them  in  their  proper 
surroundings.  Her  Ladyship  of  Londesborough 
might  have  stepped  from  a  frame  of  one  of  her 
family  portraits,  her  presence  was  so  beautiful  and 
so  picturesque.  Her  costume,  which  I  had  the 
honour  of  designing,  was  of  palest  flesh-coloured 
crepe  meteore,  an  over-dress  of  white  Chantilly,  an 
old-world  sash  of  black  velvet,  an  enormous  Leg- 
horn hat,  with  narrow  black  velvet  ribbon,  and  she 
carried  a  bouquet  of  crimson  poppies,  blue  corn- 
flowers and  yellow  wheat.  Her  Ladyship's  pecu- 
liarity was  a  rather  impetuous  manner  at  times. 
She  always  seemed  to  be  in  a  tremendous  hurry. 
She  arrived  at  my  salons  one  day  at  two  in  the 
afternoon. 

—267— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

"My  dear,  I  must  have  a  gown  for  to-night,"  she 
said. 

"But,  my  dear  Countess,  we  have  no  fairy  wands 
in  our  establishment,"  I  said. 

"Never  mind,  you  must  manage  it.  I  am  per- 
fectly aware  that  it  will  be  a  perfectly  wonderful 
thing  to  do,  but  I  know  that  you  will,"  said  Her 
Ladyship,  and  disappeared  from  my  sight  before 
I  could  say  a  word.  Next  morning,  I  received 
this  startling  telephone  message  from  her : 

"A  thousand  thanks,  but  I  am  already  married, 
it  was  a  great  success.  Isn't  it  a  great  pity  that 
the  religion  of  Brigham  Young  is  not  permitted  in 
England." 

Lady  Londesborough  was  decidedly  impetuous. 
Her  brother,  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  married  a 
step-sister  of  Lady  Warwick,  and  when  he  died, 
some  few  years  ago,  the  Countess  of  Londesbor- 
ough adopted  his  daughter,  and  I  believe  she  is  now 
married  again.  Lady  Londesborough's  son,  Lord 
Raincliffe,  is  at  the  front  doing  his  bit. 

Her  sweet  and  girlish  daughter,  the  Lady  Irene 
Dennison,  in  a  frock  of  purest  white  mousseline, 
looked  a  perfect  dream  of  youthful  beauty.  She 
was  tall,  willowy  and  graceful,  a  perfect  counter- 
part of  her  lovely  mother. 
—268— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

Another  delightful  woman  of  this  period  was  the 
Viscountess  Falmouth,  a  very  handsome  woman, 
and  whom  I  always  dressed  with  great  care,  be- 
cause she  wore  her  gowns  to  perfection.  She  was 
very  fond  of  the  Burnous  mantle,  and  had  a  great 
trick  of  throwing  one  over  her  when  driving. 

I  made  her  gown  for  the  coronation  ceremonies, 
trimmed  with  lace  and  ermine  or  minnever,  which 
had  been  in  the  family  for  hundreds  of  years.  By 
deft  manipulation  I  made  a  very  unusual  costume 
of  it. 

For  this  occasion  Queen  Alexandra  put  aside 
her  mourning,  and  I  made  for  her  a  beautiful 
toilette  of  silver  grey,  bonnet  en  suite,  with  sprays 
of  lovely  mauve  lilacs.  The  artists  who  appeared 
at  this  garden  fete  were  great  public  favourites, 
such  as  Little  Elsie,  now  Mrs.  Ian  Boullough,  and 
the  inimitable  Joe  Coyne,  who  gave  the  then  popu- 
lar "Merry  Widow"  dance,  and  received  an  ova- 
tion. There  was  also  the  celebrated  violinist, 
Kubelik,  and  a  number  of  other  artists  of  equal 
importance.  The  garden  party  ended  when  the 
King  and  Queen  arose  to  partake  of  tea. 

It  seems  as  though  these  events  must  have  taken 
place  in  another  world,  so  tinged  with  romance  do 

—269— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

they  seem  in  these  present  times  of  stress  and  anxi- 
ety.    Yet,  only  a  few  years  have  passed. 

An  incident  has  just  reminded  me  of  the  person- 
ality of  the  celebrated  Lady  Brassey,  whose  yacht, 
the  Swnbeam,  made  her  famous.  She  sent  for 
me  once  to  come  to  her  gorgeous  country  seat, 
"Normanhurst,"  in  Sussex.  It  was  really  a  show 
place,  for  her  Ladyship  in  her  trips  around  the 
world  in  the  Sunbeam  had  picked  up  the  most 
wonderful  oriental  rugs  and  embroideries,  and  val- 
uable tapestries.  The  walls  of  the  great  reception 
hall  at  "Normanhurst,"  with  its  enormous  Jaco- 
bean fireplaces,  were  hung  with  priceless  treasures. 
I  can  almost  smell  again  the  penetrating  incense 
sprinkled  on  those  huge  blazing  logs,  before  which 
we  were  sitting  on  huge  skins  of  lions  and  tigers. 

Lady  Brassey  was  a  sybaritic  woman.  Her 
tastes  were  barbaric,  and  her  almost  phenomenal 
extravagances  were  unique.  Money  had  no  value 
to  her,  and  she  spent  it  freely  with  the  indulgence 
that  her  husband,  Sir  Thomas  Brassey,  could  easily 
supply,  since  he  was  the  Empire's  richest  iron- 
master and  railroad  king.  The  foundation  of  the 
Brassey  fortune  was  laid  by  Lord  Brassey,  his 
grandfather.  Lord  Brassey  became  First  Lord  of 
—270— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  Admiralty,  and,  with  Lady  Brassey,  did  a  great 
deal  of  good  in  England. 

Upon  arriving  at  "Normanhurst,"  I  was  first 
lunched  feen  Princesse"  and  then  consulted  with 
Lady  Brassey  on  the  all-important  matter  of  a 
Court  dress  for  the  presentation  of  her  eldest 
daughter,  now  Lady  Egerton;  also  one  for  her- 
self and  for  her  step-sister.  Some  time  later,  I 
remember  being  seated  on  a  big  four-poster  bed  in 
their  town  house  in  Park  Lane,  giving  a  very  poor 
imitation  of  Queen  Victoria  on  her  throne,  while 
these  three  ladies  paid  homage  to  me.  They  were 
practising  the  difficult  deportment  which  Court 
etiquette  demanded  of  them,  and  I  found  it  very 
amusing  criticising  their  court  bows. 

Lady  Brassey  wore  a  gown  of  crimson  oriental 
brocade.  It  was  so  gorgeous  in  colour  and  design 
that  the  Court  was  rather  staggered  by  its  daring, 
yet  it  suited  Lady  Brassey's  dark  beauty  to  per- 
fection, and  as  she  approached  the  Queen  at  the 
Drawing  Room,  she  looked  like  an  Eastern  Em- 
press. Never  have  I  seen  such  teeth  as  she  had, 
they  were  so  white  and  brilliant.  I  think  she  was 
a  bit  vain  of  them,  for  she  had  a  habit  of  drawing 
up  her  lips  in  a  sort  of  smile  which  was  still  not  a 
smile.     Her   daughter   and   her   step-sister   wore 

—271— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Court  dresses  that  were  really  splendid  counter- 
foils for  Lady  Brassey.  They  were  simply  pure 
white,  with  no  other  colour  to  mar  their  simple  and 
distinguished  character.  Lady  Brassey  was 
drowned  at  sea,  returning  from  a  cruise.  She  was 
greatly  missed,  and  many  envied  me  my  possession 
of  her  autograph,  for  usually  her  secretary  wrote 
all  her  letters. 

One  of  the  distinctly  British  holidays,  or  rather 
commemoration  days,  is  Primrose  Day.  The  idea 
originated  through  an  organisation  of  the  Primrose 
League  Dames.  They  planned  to  establish  the 
fame  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  Disraeli,  by  selecting 
his  favourite  flower,  the  primrose,  which  blossoms 
in  April,  as  a  national  Beaconsfield  emblem.  His 
late  wife,  who  was  much  older  than  he,  was  devot- 
edly happy  with  him,  and  the  idea  no  doubt  ori- 
ginated with  her  and  her  coterie  of  women  friends, 
who  conservatively  entered  into  a  bond  to  perpet- 
uate the  fame  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  the  Prime 
Minister  who  made  Queen  Victoria  the  Empress 
of  India.  His  statue  is  always  profusely  dec- 
orated with  primroses  on  Primrose  Day.  Politi- 
cally, the  Primrose  League  Dames  are  ultra-con- 
servative, as  they  are  in  dress.  It  is  a  great  dis- 
—272— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

tinction  for  women  to  belong  to  the  Primrose 
League  Dames. 

One  can  scarcely  speak  of  Lord  Beaconsfield 
without  thinking  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  Political  op- 
ponents as  they  were,  they  hated  with  vigour,  and 
made  the  torch  of  discord  flame  high  in  society.  I 
wonder  what  they  would  say  to-day,  seeing  their 
beloved  country  in  the  thrall  of  a  feud  which  knows 
neither  Whig  nor  Tory,  Liberal  nor  Conserva- 
tive. 

Lady  Muriel  de  la  Warr,  "dainty  Muriel,"  as 
she  used  to  be  called,  was  married  at  sixteen,  and 
I  gowned  both  her  and  her  sister,  who  is  Lady 
Winnington,  wife  of  the  Governor  of  India.  I 
remember  when  as  dear  little  girls,  their  mother, 
Lady  Brassey,  insisted  on  giving  them  sealskin 
jackets.  In  vain  I  remonstrated  that  they  were 
too  mature  and  too  costly  for  such  young  girls,  but 
Her  Ladyship  would  have  her  own  way.  Peace 
be  with  her,  for  her  books  are  still  read  and  very 
much  appreciated.  Times  are  indeed  changed 
since  those  days  of  great  entertainments  given  by 
Her  Ladyship  as  the  grande  dame  of  the  Ambu- 
lance Corps  of  St.  John,  to  which  she  gave  thou- 
sands of  pounds.  Her  millions  possessed  but  one 
charm,  and  that  was  to  spend  them  regally  and 

—273— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

royally,  and  no  one  who  ever  called  upon  Lady 
Brassey  for  assistance  was  ever  refused  a  generous 
gift. 

One  of  my  distinguished  clients  was  the  wife  of 
the  English  Ambassador  to  Germany,  Lady  Er- 
myntrude  Malet,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford. She  was  a  brilliant  wit,  and  was  very  pop- 
ular at  the  German  Court,  the  Kaiser  being  par- 
ticularly interested  by  her  charm. 

When  the  Kaiser's  sister  was  married  to  one  of 
the  Hesses,  I  made  her  gown  of  the  palest  grey 
pearl  damask  fleuri,  the  embroideries  of  which,  in 
real  gold,  were  a  true  work  of  art.  The  court 
train  of  this  gown  was  bordered  in  priceless  Rus- 
sian sable,  an  heirloom  of  the  late  Duchess  of  Bed- 
ford, who  in  her  youth  had  been  one  of  the  brides- 
maids of  the  late  Queen  Victoria.  Her  Excel- 
lency was  one  of  those  grandes  dames  who  would 
never  go  to  a  shop,  or  even  to  the  salons  of  her 
modiste.  Everything  was  taken  to  her  magnifi- 
cent mansion  in  Eton  Square  for  her  inspection, 
and  there  Lady  Ermyntrude  Malet  would  choose 
the  toilettes  for  which  she  was  justly  famous. 

The  Kaiser's  sister  was  not  tall;  she  was  rather 
blonde,  had  a  neat  little  figure,  was  very  modest, 
very  sweet,  and  very  intellectual.  Her  married 
—274— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

life  had  been  idyllic.  She  had  twin  sons  twice. 
Two  of  her  sons  have  died  on  the  field  of  honour, 
and  quite  recently  another  son  was  killed  in  the 
war. 

For  some  time  the  Lady  Ermyntrude  Malet  re- 
tired into  private  life,  but  recently,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  war,  when  the  Duchess  of  Som- 
erset organized  a  Charity  Ball,  she  emerged  from 
her  seclusion  in  the  costume  of  a  Court  Lady  of 
Spain,  which  was  very  gorgeous.  The  underdress 
was  of  historical  gold  embroidery,  and  a  basquine 
of  palest  pastel  green,  brocaded  with  arabesques 
of  gold,  belonged  to  one  of  her  ancestors.  Her 
collar,  mantilla,  and  high  Spanish  comb,  were  all 
real  antiques,  as  well  as  her  priceless  jewels.  Even 
her  gloves  were  embroidered  with  precious  stones. 
You  may  be  sure  she  created  a  sensation  at  the  ball. 

I  had  gowned  her  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
went  to  her  house  on  the  night  of  the  ball  to  put  the 
finishing  touches  to  this  magnificent  costume.  The 
interior  of  her  mansion  was  exquisite.  Every  table 
and  chair  was  from  a  priceless  collection  of  Louis 
XV  furniture.  Original  paintings  by  Greuze, 
Rubens,  Hoppner,  hung  against  marvellous  tapes- 
tries that  covered  the  walls.  It  was  like  a  glimpse 
of  the  Louvre  or  the  Tuileries.     Her  Excellency, 

—275— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Lady  Ermyntrude  Malet,  was  perhaps  more  of  the 
old  school,  having  little  inclination  for  the  modern 
frivolities.  Since  the  tragedy  of  the  war,  she  is 
working  assiduously  for  a  good  cause,  and  spend- 
ing huge  sums  for  the  wounded.  I  shall  always 
cherish  her  kindness  and  amiability,  and  will  never 
forget  her  rarely  sympathetic  nature. 

How  they  crowd  into  my  thoughts,  those  lovely 
days,  those  gracious  ladies,  who  were  without  ex- 
ception all  that  was  kind  and  loyal! 

I  shall  always  remember  dear  Lady  Pierri,  and 
her  sister,  Miss  Carlisle,  with  the  greatest  personal 
regard  for  the  many  kindnesses  they  have  really 
shown  me.  When  her  clever  husband  was  made  a 
Knight  of  St.  Patrick,  I  designed  the  gown  for  her 
to  be  worn  on  this  occasion,  made  of  royal  blue 
velvet,  with  ermine,  crystal  and  silver  embroideries. 
Notwithstanding  their  enormous  wealth  they  are 
most  unostentatious.  Their  donations  to  all  chari- 
ties are  huge,  and  there  is  a  magnificent  and  com- 
pletely equipped  hospital  in  the  city  of  Belfast, 
which  they  donated  to  the  city.  In  their  beautiful 
home  in  London,  there  are  no  men  servants.  The 
entire  staff  are  Irish  girls.  The  only  two  men  em- 
ployed by  the  household  are  the  coachman  and  the 
chauffeur. 
—276— 


OTHER  MEMORIES  IN  ENGLAND 

Another  celebrated  figure  in  London  society  at 
this  time  was  Mrs.  Alfred  Morrison.  She  was  a 
Miss  Schermerhorn;  her  brother  was  a  celebrated 
General,  and  her  sister  was  the  wife  of  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Her  wealth  was 
fabulous,  and  materially  assisted  in  making  her  a 
prominent  figure  in  London  society.  Her  taste 
was  decidedly  French,  preferably  of  the  reign  of 
one  of  the  Louis'.  She  was  rather  a  clever  violin- 
ist, and  a  good  linguist.  She  had  a  peculiar  way 
of  walking  which  gave  one  the  impression  that  she 
was  an  Algerian  woman.  She  never  wore  corsets, 
and  this  added  to  her  general  habit  of  swaying  the 
body  slightly  as  she  moved,  like  a  Houri,  or  like 
one  of  the  queens  of  a  harem.  Her  town  house  in 
Carlton  Terrace  boasted  of  a  Carrara  marble  stair- 
case worth  fifty  thousand  dollars,  alabaster  urns 
and  vases,  paintings  by  the  old  masters,  a  regal 
fortune  in  sight  everywhere.  Her  two  daughters, 
though  quite  beautiful,  married  rather  late  in  life. 

One  became  Lady  White,  and  the  other  the 
Viscountess  St.  Cyr.  The  latter  was  rather  intel- 
lectual. I  made  the  dresses  for  them  for  their 
coming-out  ball,  of  white  peau  de  sole,  with  scarlet 
cherries,  which  became  their  dark  beauty  im- 
mensely.    The  favours  at  this  cotillion,  supplied  by 

—277— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

their  mother,  Mrs.  Alfred  Morrison,  were  very 
costly.  Since  Mrs.  Morrison  has  become  a  widow 
she  has  retired  into  the  country. 

While  I  am  sitting  here  assiduously  writing,  try- 
ing to  forget  nothing  which  may  be  of  interest,  my 
little  Pomeranian  dog,  a  bit  of  the  old  country, 
from  Devonshire,  comes  up  and  snuggles  near  me, 
looks  pleadingly  into  my  eyes,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"Isn't  it  time  to  go  to  bed?"  The  little  animal 
makes  me  think  of  the  words  of  Lafayette,  "The 
more  I  see  of  men,  the  more  I  love  dogs." 


-278-^ 


CHAPTER    XVI 

SOME  FAMOUS  GRANDES  DAMES 

Have  you  ever  realised  what  that  exotic  being, 
a  Grande  Dame,  really  means?  One  meets  them 
so  rarely,  and  I  might  almost  say  that  they  are 
nearly  extinct. 

Paradoxically,  a  Grande  Dame  is  born,  not 
made.  The  magic  ring  of  superb  dignity  and 
charm  in  which  they  live,  is  really  an  invisible  at- 
mosphere created  by  their  own  incarnate  nature. 
I  use  the  term  "incarnate  nature"  as  the  only  fit- 
ting explanation  of  the  extraordinary  instinct  for 
superior  humanity  which  the  Grande  Dame  rep- 
resents. She  is  imbued  with  the  very  essence  of 
all  that  is  feminine  perfection,  she  is  brought  up  in 
a  creed  which  is  daily  becoming  almost  extinct,  it 
is  the  creed  of  good  manners  and  kindly  feeling. 
Of  course,  the  nursery  has  incubated  her,  the  child 
environment  has  been  an  atmosphere  of  superior- 
ity, the  ultimate  education  has  been  a  factor.  But 
these   are   influences   kept   entirely  in   the   back- 

—279— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

ground,  the  reserve  forces,  the  fundamental  pro- 
pensities of  a  real  existence. 

One  of  the  most  perfect  Grandes  Dames  of  Eng- 
land, of  the  old  school,  of  course,  was  the  late 
Duchess  of  Buccleuch,  Mistress  of  the  Robes  of 
the  late  Queen  Victoria.  Her  bearing,  her  voice, 
softly  modulated,  her  gracious,  unostentatious  de- 
meanour was  an  influence  that  impressed  and  con- 
quered. More  than  gracious  to  every  one,  yet 
never  familiar,  she  was  the  epitome  of  a  Grande 
Dame.  Her  mode  of  gowning,  subdued  and  ele- 
gant, was  nevertheless  a  blend  of  colour  which  im- 
pressed you.  You  felt  that  you  were  in  the  pres- 
ence of  somebody  very  lofty,  but  human.  I  re- 
member she  spoke  very  kindly  to  one  of  my  as- 
sistants, requesting  her  to  sit  down,  and  chatted 
very  pleasantly  with  her,  asking  her  many  ques- 
tions as  to  the  well-being  of  the  employees  of  my 
house.  At  the  end  of  the  conversation  she  sent  for 
the  footman  to  bring  her  a  nosegay,  and  went  with 
her  to  the  door  of  her  own  room.  This  Grande 
Dame  never  lost  one  iota  of  her  dignity.  She  be- 
came distinguished  through  the  veil  of  her  sweet 
and  lovable  manner.  After  all,  it  is  only  those  of 
us  who  are  not  sure  of  ourselves,  who  most  fear 
—280— 


SOME  FAMOUS  GRANDES  DAMES 

familiarity.  It  is  the  veneer,  the  spurious  imita- 
tion of  dignity,  that  fears  to  unbend. 

The  Grande  Dame  surrounds  herself  always 
with  great  distinction  by  maintaining  the  most 
careful  social  setting,  by  guarding  rigidly  her  as- 
sociations. She  is  a  leader  in  society  because  of 
her  broad  idea  of  responsibility  to  do  all  the  good 
she  can,  to  influence  the  minds  of  less  fortunate 
people  whom  she  meets  at  times.  Your  Grande 
Dame  does  not  wear  her  jewels  at  all  times  of  the 
day.  She  chooses  her  garments  with  a  discretion 
of  colour,  seeking  always  to  soften,  to  subdue  the 
glamour  of  her  station.  When  she  walks  it  is  as 
though  she  were  gliding.  She  never  raises  her 
voice,  her  goal  is  perfect  harmony. 

Those  splendid  dinners  and  entertainments  for 
which  English  society  was  justly  famous,  were  in- 
spired by  the  Grande  Dame.  The  character  of  the 
menu,  the  selection  of  the  dishes,  had  a  certain  re- 
serve. There  was  an  obvious  talent  of  refinement 
at  these  dinners,  a  clever  evasion  of  the  ostentation 
of  wealth.  The  quality  and  physical  element  of 
these  parties  were  never  published  to  the  world. 
Your  Grande  Dame  regards  reticence  as  the  high- 
est duty  of  good  taste.  These  entertainments,  in- 
spired and  created  by  the  genius  of  the  Grande 

—281— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Dame,  although  rising  to  every  attribute  of  splen- 
dour, redundant  with  luxury,  never  had  the  noisy 
error  of  equally  grand  entertainment  given  by 
lesser  personages,  by  social  upstarts. 

I  recall  a  great  reception  given  by  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Buccleuch,  where  great  admiration  was 
excited  by  some  wonderful  confectionery.  The 
guests  were  as  delighted  as  children  and  paid  as 
much  attention  to  this  superb  creation  of  the  din- 
ner as  if  it  had  been  a  great  event  of  their  lives. 
Simplicity  and  sincerity  were  the  elements  and  as- 
sociates of  the  Grande  Dame.  Food,  in  those 
days,  was  not  conceived  in  the  mixed  indecision  of 
the  present  day.  Of  course  the  most  delightful 
dinners  were  to  be  found  across  the  Channel  from 
England,  where  one  found  the  Grande  Dame  of 
France.     She  originated  there. 

The  flowers  on  her  dinner  table  were  not  of  the 
exotic  quality.  She  preferred  to  be  served  in  huge 
vessels  of  crystal.  To  soften  the  glare  of  an  indis- 
creet world,  she  preferred  the  subdued  light  in 
crystal  chandeliers.  There  still  lingers  this  quiet 
motif  of  Beethoven  in  some  old  mansions,  in  the 
roomy  country  houses  of  France,  where  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Grande  Dame  survive.  It  is  an  at- 
—282— 


SOME  FAMOUS  GRANDE S  DAMES 

mosphere  which  the  parvenus  try  to  get,  but  are 
never  quite  able  to  imitate. 

One  of  the  insistent  rules  of  the  Grande  Dame 
has  been  entirely  overthrown  by  the  liberty  of 
modern  life.  It  was  a  fixed  tradition  of  good  man- 
ners, that  the  Grande  Dame  should  never  permit 
a  gentleman  to  smoke  in  her  presence.  Now  she 
smokes  with  them.  A  smoking  room  was  always 
provided  where  a  gentleman  could  retire,  and  join 
the  ladies  afterward  in  the  drawing  room,  where 
music,  politics,  and  a  little  bit  of  scandal  were  en- 
joyed. When  I  say  scandal,  however,  I  do  not 
mean  all  that  the  word  implies  to-day.  Your 
Grande  Dame  never  permitted  any  flagrant  dis- 
cussions, and  any  one  overstepping  the  discretion 
of  her  social  laws  was  ostracised.  This,  of  course, 
was  done  to  protect  the  daughters,  to  prevent  them 
from  hearing  the  chatter  of  the  Clubs. 

Another  very  distinguished  Grande  Dame  of 
England  was  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland, 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  She  was  very 
tall,  very  stately,  with  an  air  that  was  immune  to 
anything  but  regal  traditions.  Her  circle  was  en- 
tirely restricted,  there  were  no  intruders,  because 
she  created  a  society  for  herself.  She  personally 
scrutinised  very  carefully  every  invitation  sent  out 

—283— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

by  her  secretary.  Only  on  rare  occasions  did  she 
reverse  the  invitations  of  her  secretary.  On  these 
occasions  her  list  was  augmented,  but  only  for  men 
who  were  scholars,  the  Catholic  Church  dignities, 
Cardinals,  the  Jesuit  Princes  of  the  soul-saving 
community,  a  background  of  intellectual  humanity 
for  the  elite. 

The  period  of  the  Grande  Dame,  which  I  fear 
is  passing  away,  had  its  tradition  of  correct  con- 
versation. They  studied  the  proper  mode  of  ex- 
pressing themselves,  they  even  established  a  fash- 
ion of  spelling.  They  attended  modern  French 
discourses,  and  they  used  a  phraseology  superbly 
refined.  They  spoke  almost  in  whispers.  They 
devoted  hours  to  having  romances  read  to  them, 
after  which  literary  discussions  took  place  between 
them.  After  all,  these  Grandes  Dames  being 
women,  they  had  their  coteries.  They  were  not 
flippant  in  the  sense  of  that  word  to-day,  but  they 
occasionally  admitted  to  their  inner  circle  certain 
insolent  spirits  of  literature,  or  so-called  philosophy. 
They  paid  much  formal  respect  to  religious  observ- 
ances. It  was  a  prerogative  of  the  Grandes  Dames, 
exercised  only  on  special  occasions,  to  permit  them- 
selves to  accept  the  homage  of  the  crowds.  This 
—284— 


SOME  FAMOUS  GRANDE S  DAMES 

was  extended  to  them  only  sometimes  in  a  moment 
of  oversight  by  the  crowds  themselves. 

There  was  in  England  a  type  of  arrogant  aris- 
tocrats, who  were  not  always  to  the  manner  born, 
and  these  women  tried  very  hard  to  enter  the 
charmed  circle  of  the  Grandes  Dames,  but  were  un- 
successful. 

One  cannot  excuse  the  Grande  Dame  of  the 
charge  of  haughtiness.  This  characteristic  was 
particularly  evident  when  she  appeared  at  Court. 
It  was  on  these  occasions  that  the  Grande  Dame 
asserted  her  rights,  which  were  beyond  and  above 
her  rank.  There  were  absolute  Duchesses  and  in- 
discreet Duchesses,  who,  when  they  met  at  Court, 
clashed.  A  case  in  point  was  when  the  absolute 
Duchess  of  Buckingham  and  Chandos  met  the 
usurper.  The  latter  was  deliberately  cut  by  her. 
The  usurping  Duchess,  however,  who  only  wished 
to  usurp  the  rights  of  her  rank,  didn't  care.     She 

had  a  commanding  figure,  she  was  a  wonderful 
personality,  standing  nearly  six  feet  two.  She 
could  walk  for  miles  and  miles  on  her  own  undis- 
puted Scotch  territory,  which  some  of  the  Grandes 
Dames  could  not  do.  She  could  hew  a  tree  with 
ease,  she  was  a  keen  sportswoman,  and  when  she 
died,  recently,  she  left  one  daughter,  who  married 

—285— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

and  divorced  an  Austrian  nobleman.  This  Duch- 
ess was  colossally  rich,  and  when  the  late  Duke  died 
he  left  her  everything  excepting  the  property  which 
was  not  entailed.  She  cut  the  timber  down  upon 
these  Scotch  properties.  She  removed  a  wonder- 
ful organ  from  Stafford  House,  dismantled  the 
whole  mansion,  and  did  many  quixotic  things  which 
delighted  the  scandalmongers.  Her  first  husband 
was  accidentally  shot  on  the  late  Duke's  estate. 
Her  marriage  to  the  Duke  was  something  of  a  dar- 
ing venture.  She  came  to  America  with  him  on 
his  yacht  and  they  were  married  in  Florida.  She 
was  a  Grande  Dame  by  rank,  but  not  by  incarnate 
nature.  Perhaps  she  was  the  subject  of  censure 
by  inferior  people.  She  spent  enormous  sums  in 
Paris  and  London  upon  her  gowns,  yet  she  was 
Scotch,  and  that  means  she  was  not  too  liberal.  I 
know  that  she  was  economically  inclined,  and  with 
her  brother,  attended  personally  to  all  her  business 
affairs.  She  burned  a  pile  of  documents  relating 
to  her  inheritance,  and  this  being  in  violation  of  a 
Court  Order,  she  was  sent  to  Holloway  Jail  for 
contempt  of  Court,  for  a  month.  She  had  a  very 
merry  time  there.  She  was  allowed  to  furnish  her 
own  room,  ordered  her  own  food,  and  kept  her 
maid  with  her.  She  received  whom  she  liked,  the 
—286— 


SOME  FAMOUS  GRANDES  DAMES 

only  restriction  being  that  she  could  not  go  outside 
the  prison. 

Another  notorious  Grande  Dame  was  the  Duch- 
ess "Bob."  Being  somewhat  notorious  as  the 
"sporting  Duchess,"  she  was  not  admitted  to  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  Grandes  Dames  of  tradition. 
Her  language  was  very  strong,  liberally  mixed 
with  undesirable  epigrams.  She  lived  most  of  the 
time  at  her  racing  stables  at  Newmarket.  She 
never  missed  a  race,  where  she  was  easily  recognis- 
able by  her  mannish  costumes,  which  she  wore  with 
the  greatest  ease.  Being  very  rich,  she  lost  like  a 
sportsman,  without  a  murmur.  Her  stables  were 
kept  like  drawing  rooms,  and  her  grooms  and  ser- 
vants adored  her.  I  believe  the  late  king  was  a 
great  friend  of  hers,  for  he  also  loved  horses  and 
races.  She  married  a  second  time,  a  prominent 
banker,  about  thirty  years  younger  than  she  was, 
and  very  handsome. 

The  present  Duchess  of  Montrose  is  really  a 
typical  Grande  Dame,  and  her  lovely  daughters 
and  sons  are  indeed  great  social  favourites. 

Then  there  is  the  present  Duchess  of  Bedford, 
who  was  a  daughter  of  a  Dean  of  Bombay.  She 
also  is  among  the  Grandes  Dames  of  England,  ex- 
tremely clever,   ultra-conservative   and  especially 

—287— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

particular  about  her  social  code.  Although  her 
early  youth  was  passed  in  the  modest  fashion  in 
India,  she  seems  to  the  manner  born.  When  the 
present  Duke  of  Bedford  proposed  to  her  in  India, 
he  was  the  Marquis  of  Tavistock,  and  his  chances 
of  inheriting  the  dukedom  seemed  rather  remote, 
till  his  brother  died  very  suddenly. 

The  dowager  Duchess  of  Bedford  was  and  is  still 
a  remarkable  woman,  a  Grande  Dame,  very  exclu- 
sive and  very  handsome.  Her  sister  is  Lady 
Henry  Somerset,  a  remarkable  orator,  who  has 
travelled  extensively  in  the  United  States.  Both 
the  Duchess  of  Bedford  and  her  sister,  Lady 
Henry  Somerset,  were  daughters  of  the  beautiful 
Countess  Somers,  a  direct  descendant  of  that  lovely 
Quaker  family  of  Elizabeth  Fry. 

The  Duchess  of  Wellington  and  the  Duchess 
of  Hamilton  were  both  Grandes  Dames,  the  latter 
being  the  daughter  of  the  Duchess  of  Manchester, 
who  later  became  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire.  She 
was  very  fond  of  the  sporting  world,  and  lacked 
repose  and  distinction  because  her  pursuits  and 
pleasures  were  perhaps  more  boisterous  than  the 
traditions  of  her  rank  demanded.  Her  husband, 
the  late  Duke  of  Hamilton,  was,  on  his  mother's 
side,  of  royal  blood.  She  was  Marie,  Duchess  of 
—288— 


SOME  FAMOUS  GRAXDES  DAMES 

Baden.  He  was  one  of  the  richest  land-owners  in 
Great  Britain  and  Scotland.  The  present  Duch- 
ess married  a  second  time,  her  land  steward,  and  I 
believe  they  are  intensely  happy.  Their  daughter, 
Lady  Marie  Hamilton,  who  was  the  greatest  heir- 
ess in  England,  married  the  Marquis  Graham,  heir 
to  the  dukedom  of  Montrose.  Like  all  other  Brit- 
ish aristocrats,  he  is  doing  his  best  for  the  good 
cause. 

This  sketch  of  the  Grandes  Dames  of  England 
would  not  be  complete  without  reference  to  the  tall, 
willowy,  and  distingue  woman,  the  Duchess  of 
Portland.  She  is  the  one  Grande  Dame  whose 
code  of  ethics  succeeded  in  keeping  out  of  her 
charmed  presence  all  doubtful  and  uncertain 
classes.  Welbeck-Abbey,  her  residence,  was  in- 
deed the  most  desirable  castle  in  England.  The 
former  Duke  of  Portland  immortalised  it  by  build- 
ing in  the  castle  gorgeous  subterranean  salons. 
The  Duchess  presided  with  grace  in  the  midst  of 
her  artistic  environments.  She  was  a  woman  of 
elegance  and  simplicity.  She  always  wore  in  her 
girdle  some  Malmaison  carnations.  They  were 
her  floral  code.  Her  son,  the  Marquis  of  Tich- 
bourne,  and  her  daughter,  Lady  Bentinck,  look 
exactly  like  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Portland.     He 

—289— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

was  the  Master  of  the  Horse  and  Knight  of  the 
Star  and  Garter. 

Their  marriage  was  a  story  of  love  at  first  sight. 
She  was  Miss  Dallas  Yorke,  and  the  Duke  saw 
her  standing  on  the  platform  of  a  small  station  in 
England.  He  was  struck  by  her  distinction,  her 
lovely  blue  eyes,  her  tall,  graceful  figure,  and  she 
has  not  changed  much.  She  is  always  delightfully 
and  simply  gowned,  her  hair  is  beautiful.  She  is 
regal-looking,  is  especially  gracious  and  amiable, 
and  is  by  all  means  the  most  perfect  type  of  the 
Grande  Dame  left  in  England. 


—290- 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SOME  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  ROYAL  CHILDREN 

Since  the  children  of  royalty  have  to  be  brought 
up,  like  other  children  who  consider  themselves  less 
fortunate,  they  are  put  through  the  same  child  ex- 
periences. Being  well  brought  up,  they  are  sweet 
and  simple  babies,  who  are  not  permitted  to  realise 
that  they  are  playing  in  the  shadow  of  the  throne. 
I  was  privileged  to  know  most  of  the  little  princes 
and  princesses  of  England,  when  they  were  mere 
children.  I  have  played  with  them  in  the  royal 
nursery,  shared  the  accessories  of  their  royal  kin- 
dergarten. 

There  were  two  nurseries  in  whatever  palace  the 
children  happened  to  be.  The  day  nursery  was  a 
lofty  room.  The  walls  were  hung  with  harmless 
etchings  and  nursery  rhymes.  The  toys  and  the 
books,  in  large  array,  all  had  their  places  on  shelves 
or  in  drawers.  There  were  little  white  tables  with 
little  white  chairs.  There  was  plenty  of  floor- 
room,  and  the  general  effect  was  airy,  bright,  or- 

—291— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

derly.  Adjoining  the  nursery  and  part  of  the 
children's  suite  was  the  music  room.  There  was 
hardly  any  furniture  in  this  room,  but  it  was  artis- 
tically arranged,  so  that  the  young  princes  and 
princesses  could  strum  on  the  piano  to  their  heart's 
content.  I  don't  think  it  hurt  the  piano  much,  for, 
of  course,  it  was  not  altogether  of  the  first  quality. 
Briefly,  such  was  the  Day  Nursery. 

The  Night  Nursery,  where  the  little  princes  and 
princesses  slept,  was  a  very  little  room.  It  was  so 
small  that  one  realised  how  easy  it  would  be  to  keep 
it  in  order.  Each  little  kiddie  had  a  white  cot, 
each  had  a  separate  chest  of  drawers,  each  had  a 
stand  where  boots  and  shoes  were  kept,  each  had  a 
looking-glass.  A  plain  straw  matting  covered  the 
floor,  and  the  general  colour  of  the  room  was  white 
and  rose.  There  were  three  easy-chairs,  put  there 
for  the  head  nurse  and  her  assistants,  usually  two. 
On  the  windows  were  white  muslin  curtains.  The 
nurses  or  the  nursery  governess  were  always  pres- 
ent when  the  children  enjoyed  their  games.  The 
uniforms  worn  by  the  nurses  were  white  linen,  and 
spotless  white  caps. 

The  royal  children  themselves  were  always  very 
simply  dressed.  The  young  princes  in  their  baby- 
hood always  wore  plain  cotton  frocks,  later  they 
—292— 


ROYAL  CHILDREN'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

were  dressed  in  little  overalls  and  tiny  slippers. 
These,  of  course,  were  their  nursery  dresses.  They 
had  wonderfully  good  times  together,  especially 
when  they  had  games  with  their  nurses  in  the  big 
room  where  there  was  no  furniture  to  bother  them. 
The  nursery  was  on  the  third  floor  of  Buckingham 
Palace,  overlooking  Buckingham  Palace  garden. 
There  were  five  huge  windows  which  overlooked 
the  lovely  grounds.  Sometimes  the  royal  children 
got  away  from  their  too-zealous  nurses  and  romped 
about  regardless  of  what  the  stately  head  nurse  in 
her  immaculate  uniform  would  say  or  think. 

The  most  refractory  child,  perhaps,  was  Princess 
Marie,  who  was  rather  self-willed,  but  her  little 
German  nursery  maid  usually  understood  her 
mood,  and  I  believed  they  compromised  very  easily. 

What  sweetly  simple  and  well  brought  up  chil- 
dren these  little  mites  were.  How  they  enjoyed 
teasing  the  nurse-maids,  and  being  teased  in  re- 
turn. The  boys  would  be  found  riding  furiously 
on  dangerous  rocking-horses,  or  directing  a  battle 
with  tin  soldiers,  or  pretending  to  play  football, 
while  the  little  girls  were  seated  in  eager  silence, 
listening  to  the  nursery  governess,  who  was  reading 
to  them  from  Andersen's  Fairy  Tales.  The  nurs- 
ery, of  course,  was  not  far  from  their  mother's  bed- 

—293— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

room,  and  they  used  to  make  secret  pilgrimages 
there. 

The  queen  thoroughly  dislikes  smartness  for 
children,  so  their  clothes  were  very  simple  but  ser- 
viceable. I  remember  seeing  the  little  Princess 
Marie,  her  hair  hanging  down  her  back  in  lovely 
wavy  curls,  being  dressed  for  a  walk  in  the  Buck- 
ingham Palace  grounds,  and  I  was  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  her  boots  were  hobnailed,  because  it 
happened  to  be  a  damp  morning.  They  were  all 
brought  up  charmingly,  absolutely  free  from  any 
ceremony.  They  were  not  imbued  with  militarism, 
or  altruism.  The  purpose  seemed  to  be  that  they 
should  be  brought  up  to  long  and  useful  lives  of 
health  and  happiness.  There  was  no  ceremony  in 
their  relations  with  their  parents.  They  called  the 
king  and  queen  mother  and  father.  The  children 
were  all  fair,  with  that  peculiar  freshness  of  com- 
plexion which  one  so  often  sees  in  English  chil- 
dren. One  of  their  chief  amusements  was  to  tease 
the  royal  footmen,  who  to  them  were  obnoxiously 
stately.  Prince  John  was  very  fond  of  wrestling 
with  his  elder  brothers,  but  he  always  wanted  his 
own  way,  and  they  usually  gave  it  to  him. 

Princess  Marie  was  a  tall  and  graceful  child,  and 
was  treated  with  a  great  deal  of  awe  by  her  broth- 
—294— 


ROYAL  CHILDREN'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

ers  and  sisters  because  of  her  calm  and  aristocratic 
bearing.  She  had  her  own  bedroom,  furnished  in 
pure  white,  and  yet  very  simple.  The  room  con- 
tained a  couch,  a  chair,  a  dressing-table  on  which 
was  her  ivory  dressing-set.  The  table  had  a  glass 
top,  and  there  were  always  fresh  flowers,  plucked 
from  the  conservatory,  on  this  table.  It  was  a 
perfect  little  nest  for  a  princess,  containing  the 
books  chosen  for  her  by  her  governess,  her  writing 
materials  upon  her  little  rosewood  desk,  photos  of 
her  beloved  parents  and  her  intimate  friends  upon 
the  mantel  shelf.  The  photographs  of  her  grand- 
mother and  great-grandmother  were  very  conspic- 
uously displayed  in  the  room.  Her  little  upright 
piano  was  also  in  white.  One  can  realise  how  ideal 
her  childhood  conditions  were  in  these  delightful 
surroundings. 

It  was  the  custom  at  a  certain  hour  of  the  day 
for  the  family  barouche  to  be  sent  for,  and  the 
royal  children  were  driven  out  for  a  constitutional 
in  Hyde  Park,  accompanied  by  the  head  nurse  and 
her  assistant,  wearing  the  grey  uniform  of  the 
street  with  tiny  black  bonnets.  The  speed  of  the 
carriage  was  very  carefully  restrained  by  the 
coachmen.  As  the  carriage  passed  under  Marble 
Arch,  the  sentries  would  salute,  and  the  boys  would 

—295— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

return  it.  The  princes  were  usually  dressed  in 
sailor  suits,  the  princesses  in  white. 

I  recall  how  delightful  the  little  Princess  Marie 
was  with  a  doll  which  I  dressed  for  her.  Her 
acknowledgment  of  the  present  had  in  it  the  qual- 
ity of  graciousness  which  one  expects  from  royalty, 
but  it  was  a  very  charming  letter.  Of  course,  these 
children  were  wonderfully  guarded,  always  pro- 
tected from  any  outside  influence  that  could  be  un- 
desirable, yet  they  were  perfectly  natural  children. 
They  delighted  in  fighting,  romping,  and  having  a 
general  good  time.  If  they  were  not  always  in  the 
mood  of  obedience,  they  were  punished,  like  other 
children. 

The  two  older  princes,  the  Duke  of  Clarence 
and  the  Duke  of  York,  when  they  were  boys  of  nine 
or  ten  years  old,  were  sent  on  a  trip  around  the 
world  in  care  of  a  guide  who  had  long  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  British  Court.  This  gentleman 
was  sent  with  them  to  make  them  behave,  and  they 
did.  From  him  I  learned  a  great  deal  about  the 
characteristics  of  the  two  royal  princes.  He  told 
me  that  the  Duke  of  Clarence  was  in  every  sense 
of  the  word  a  perfectly  lovable  boy.  He  gave  very 
little  trouble  to  his  tutor,  and  from  all  I  could  hear, 
much  less  trouble  than  Prince  George,  who  was 
—296— 


ROYAL  CHILDREN'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

not  quite  so  easily  managed.  These  traits  in  after 
years  showed  themselves  very  strongly.  Prince 
George  became  King  of  England,  and  his  boyhood 
was  the  starting-point  of  those  little  childish  out- 
bursts of  temper,  which  indicated  that  he  would 
always  insist  on  having  his  own  way.  The  trip 
around  the  world  proved  a  very  delightful  one 
upon  the  whole.  There  would  have  been  a  great 
deal  of  homage  paid  to  them  en  route  if  this  had 
been  permitted;  their  royal  parents,  however,  were 
very  particular  upon  the  point  that  no  ostentation 
of  ceremony  should  be  shown  them.  Prince  George, 
later  Prince  of  Wales,  now  King  of  England,  had 
a  very  retiring  manner  in  his  boyhood,  which  has 
still  clung  to  him.  It  is  reported  on  one  occasion, 
when  the  little  princes  were  anchored  on  board  ship 
near  a  foreign  wharf,  a  number  of  poor  children 
had  gathered  there,  hoping  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
royalty.  Both  the  young  princes  being  on  deck, 
their  tutor  said  to  them,  "Throw  them  some 
money."  The  Duke  of  Clarence  promptly  put  his 
hand  in  his  pocket  and  threw  a  handful  of  coins 
upon  the  wharf.  Prince  George  hesitated.  His 
hand  went  into  his  pocket,  but  he  reconsidered,  say- 
ing, as  he  walked  away,  "I  think  I  will  hold  on  to 


mine." 


-297— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Years  ago,  when  the  children  of  King  Edward 
VII  and  Her  Majesty  Queen  Alexandra  were 
growing  up,  I  was  privileged  to  visit  the  royal 
nursery.  The  child  of  this  royalty  who  chiefly  at- 
tracted my  attention  was  Princess  Maud,  young- 
est daughter  of  Queen  Alexandra,  who  is  now 
Queen  of  Norway.  She  was  a  plump,  short  little 
girl,  with  a  rather  noisy  manner,  and  was  regarded 
in  the  nursery  as  a  tomboy.  Her  laugh  was  in- 
fectious, and  it  made  the  nursery  gayer.  She  was 
a  very  smart  little  girl,  and  her  special  attendant, 
Miss  W.,  had  her  hands  full. 

I  recall  one  day  being  at  Marlborough  House, 
about  the  time  of  the  engagement  of  the  Duchess 
of  Fife.  The  Duchess  brought  her  fiance  into  the 
apartment  of  the  young  princesses.  I  heard  the 
then  Princess  Louise  call  out,  rather  pointedly,  to 
one  of  the  nurses : 

"Take  these  kids  away,  they  are  so  noisy,"  and 
in  a  titter  of  laughter  the  younger  royal  children 
disappeared.  Princess  Louise  herself,  at  that 
time,  was  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  the  younger 
girls  about  thirteen  and  fifteen.  I  wonder  to-day, 
if  these  royal  children  take  the  joy  in  their  retro- 
spection of  that  wonderful  youth  of  theirs,  so  beau- 
tifully guarded  and  so  educationally  inspired. 
—298— 


THE    ROYAL    CHILDREN 

The    author,    before    going    to    Australia,    had    many    opportunities    to    see    and 
speak    with   these   children    when   they    were   still    Duke   and   Duchess   of   York. 


ROYAL  CHILDREN'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

I  knew  Queen  Marie  as  a  child,  she  was  the  ap- 
ple of  her  parents'  eyes.  Her  brothers  adored 
her,  and  she  was  with  them  always.  They  fought 
together,  they  quarrelled  together,  they  grew  up  in 
a  certain  imprudent  intimacy.  Her  Majesty  in 
her  childhood  joined  in  all  the  games  of  the  boys, 
she  was  a  real  child  of  nature.  Her  nursery  gov- 
erness and  her  finishing  governess  was  Madame 
Brica,  and  she  told  me  that  she  sometimes  had 
great  difficulty  in  curbing  the  exuberance  of  this 
high-spirited  royal  child.  During  her  childhood, 
Her  Majesty  was  a  universal  favourite  in  the  little 
village  of  Richmond  and  Kingston-on-Thames, 
where  these  royal  children  were  brought  up.  This 
place  still  has  a  great  attraction  for  Her  Majesty, 
for  her  beloved  mother,  the  Duchess  of  Teck,  is 
buried  in  that  vicinity.  She  was  indeed  a  lovable 
and  charming  mother,  who  entered  into  the  fun  of 
everything  that  her  children  loved.  Her  Majes- 
ty's handsome  brother,  whom  she  adored,  Prince 
Francis  of  Teck,  was  a  gay  young  spark,  and  many 
were  the  youthful  scrapes  out  of  which  she  helped 
him.  He  died  only  a  few  years  ago  in  the  fine 
flower  of  his  manhood,  and  his  sister  grieved  very 
much  for  him.  Her  eldest  brother,  the  present 
Duke  of  Teck,  married  the  daughter  of  the  first 

—299— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Duke  of  Westminster.  The  children  of  the  Duke 
of  Teck  are  naturally  also  of  royal  blood,  as  are 
the  children  of  the  youngest  brother,  who  married 
the  brother  of  the  Duchess  of  Albany. 

Royal  children  are  not  different  in  any  way 
from  all  children.  They  have  moments,  too,  when 
they  lack  repose,  when  they  are  boisterous,  viva- 
cious, obdurate,  when  they  shirk  their  lessons,  and 
when  they  overeat  themselves  with  candy.  In 
childhood  they  weave  fairy  tales,  in  maidenhood  or 
manhood  they  weave  romance  or  tragedy,  the  chil- 
dren of  yesterday  are  the  grown-up  children  of 
to-day. 

The  royal  children  of  Italy  have  been  brought 
up  under  the  personal  supervision  of  their  adored 
mother,  who  was  a  very  clever  woman,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  Montenegrin  prince,  Nicholas,  the  father 
of  several  queens  of  Europe.  She  always  person- 
ally assists  at  their  lessons,  shares  their  indoor  and 
outdoor  sports,  rides  with  them  in  the  riding 
school.  Athletic  sports  is  the  principal  pastime 
for  the  little  princes  and  princesses.  The  boys 
look  forward  with  great  pleasure  to  playing  sol- 
diers. Particularly  are  the  children  adored  by 
the  mountaineer  regiment  of  the  Bersaglieri,  that 
handsome  regiment  wearing  green  plumed  feathers 
—300— 


ROYAL  CHILDREN'S  RECOLLECTIONS 

in  their  hats.     The  little  Italian  Crown  Prince  is 
already  a  lieutenant  of  his  own  regiment. 

The  games  which  royal  children  enjoy  are  nat- 
urally expensive  and  elaborate.  They  have  the 
blocks  to  build  wonderful  castles,  material  for 
fortresses,  for  feudal  ruins.  In  a  lake  of  real  water 
they  put  mechanical  swans  that  swim  around,  or, 
they  are  directing  armies  of  toy  soldiers.  Some- 
times they  go  fishing  on  miniature  lakes  filled  with 
decoy  ducks,  or  they  sail  their  little  boats.  Es- 
pecially do  they  love  animals,  rabbits,  dogs  and 
ponies.  The  Shetland  ponies  of  the  royal  children 
are  almost  a  necessity  to  their  happiness,  and  dogs 
of  all  kinds  romp  with  them.  And  yet,  we  observe 
that  as  time  went  on,  and  the  young  princes  of 
royal  blood  became  a  little  older,  they  played  cro- 
quet, lawn-tennis,  rather  bad  football,  and  they 
learned  to  swim.  Englishmen  are  usually  good 
sportsmen  because  of  their  early  training.  It  was 
a  standing  joke  in  London  to  describe  the  early 
morning  riders  in  the  park  as  the  "Liver  Brigade." 

The  tutor  of  the  royal  children  of  England  was 
Mr.  Hanson,  a  German.  The  morning  usually 
began  with  lessons  in  the  schoolroom,  which  was  a 
high-ceiled  big  one,  containing  a  globe  and  all  the 
maps  of  Europe. 

—301— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

His  Majesty  George  V  sent  the  two  older  boys 
of  his  family  quite  early  in  life  into  the  army  and 
navy.  Very  often  these  striplings  were  put  to  the 
test.  Of  course,  they  were  good  linguists,  speak- 
ing German  and  French  fluently.  To  learn 
French  the  present  young  Prince  of  Wales  was 
sent  to  France  in  the  family  circle  of  the  Marquis 
and  Marquise  de  Bretuille.  The  Marquise  was 
born  in  America.  The  Prince  of  Wales  naturally 
became  the  intimate  friend  of  French  boys.  He 
learned  and  saw  Germany  at  its  best,  going  to 
Heidelberg  and  the  smaller  towns  when  he  was 
quite  young. 

The  days  of  nursery  rhymes  have  gone,  and  I 
wonder  if  these  grown-up  children  of  royalty  ever 
think  of  those  days  when  they  used  to  sing  with 
such  vigour  the  baby  rhymes  of  "Goosie,  Goosie 
Gander." 


—302— 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS  I  HAVE 

KNOWN 

No  one  will  deny  that  a  man  who  becomes  Prime 
Minister  of  any  nation  must  be  a  clever  man;  but 
as  we  women  govern  our  admiration  of  men  by 
other  qualities  than  those  political,  my  impressions 
of  the  Prime  Ministers  I  have  known  may  not  add 
to  their  diplomatic  distinction.  In  diplomacy,  in 
political  resource,  of  course,  they  were  all  brilliant. 
I  imagine  that  it  was  something  of  a  strain  for  the 
kings  and  queens  whom  they  served  to  establish 
congenial  relations  with  them. 

Since  I  lived  so  long  in  England,  my  first  recol- 
lection of  Prime  Ministers  is  Mr.  Gladstone.  My 
impression  of  Gladstone  may  surprise  some  people 
who  were  overwhelmed  by  his  public  oratory  in 
the  House,  but  I  am  convinced  that  he  possessed 
a  pride  so  sensitive  that  it  made  him  timid  at  times, 
especially  prudent  upon  discussing  any  subject 
with  which  he  was  not  fully  acquainted.  Mr. 
Gladstone's  opposition  to  Lord  Beaconsfleld  was 

—303— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

maintained  chiefly  by  a  certain  instinctive  subtlety 
with  which  he  stuck  to  the  one  vulnerable  point  in 
Beaconsfield's  armour.  He  often  remarked  that 
he  had  nothing  to  say  regarding  the  precocity  of 
Disraeli's  doctrines,  and  he  often  worked  upon  this 
noncommittal  attitude  until  his  manner  assumed 
the  proportions  of  a  personal  insult. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  were  oppo- 
nents, they  visited  at  the  same  houses.  When  they 
met  in  this  way,  their  indignation  was  galvanised 
by  the  political  cross-current  of  their  ambitions. 
In  their  debates  in  the  House,  tact,  if  not  preju- 
dice, would  often  prevent  the  presence,  either  in 
the  gallery  or  on  the  floor  of  the  house,  of  the  un- 
invited. 

It  was  when,  upon  special  invitation,  I  found 
myself  on  the  terrace  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
that  I  would  sometimes  see  these  great  men,  Mr. 
Gladstone  and  Lord  Beaconsfield,  moving  about 
in  deep  thought.  From  my  woman's  point  of  view, 
I  often  wondered  at  the  complete  difference  be- 
tween these  men.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  a  great  ad- 
mirer of  the  fair  sex,  and  he  always  took  especial 
pains  to  charm  them  by  his  wit,  by  his  satirical 
mannerisms.  It  was  his  special  gift  to  make  any 
lady  he  was  talking  to  believe  that  she  was  the  only 
—304— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

woman  in  the  world.  I  often  wondered  at  the 
audacity  towards  women  of  this  great  statesman. 
These  moments  of  frivolity,  however,  were  only  the 
little  sideplays  of  a  man  whose  whole  career  was 
one  of  great  ambition  and  great  purpose.  I  con- 
sider he  was  the  greatest  politician  in  England 
since  Lord  Palmerston  and  Pitt.  He,  single- 
handed,  managed  Great  Britain's  political  ship, 
steered  it  clear  of  many  rocks.  He  was  a  great 
friend  and  admirer  of  Bismarck,  of  Monsieur 
Thiers,  and  Cardinal  Rampolli  was  his  warm  and 
earnest  friend.  I  am  wondering,  as  I  recall  these 
qualities  of  Mr.  Gladstone  and  of  Lord  Beacons- 
field,  whether  if  these  men  had  been  at  the  helm  of 
State,  the  English  Empire  would  have  been  in- 
volved in  this  terrible  war. 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  a  tall,  raw-boned,  broad- 
shouldered  man.  His  grey  hair  was  sparsely 
combed  over  his  intelligent  forehead.  He  had 
a  rather  prominent  nose,  and  he  was  usually 
dressed  in  a  suit  of  black  broadcloth.  I  suppose 
that  his  coat  would  have  passed  for  a  Prince  Al- 
bert, but  it  was  a  compromising  Prince  Albert. 
He  always  wore  the  broad,  white  collar  of  the  thir- 
ties and  a  black  satin  stock.  When  he  walked 
abroad,  down  the  Mall,  he  always  seemed  in  deep 

—305— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

thought,  walking  with  his  hands  behind  his  back. 
When  he  would  stride  along  St.  James,  through 
Bond  Street,  he  would  stop  and  look  into  the  shops, 
where  photographs  of  pretty  women  were  dis- 
played. He  would  look  leisurely  at  the  passersby, 
greet  a  friend  here  and  there,  and  he  was  distinc- 
tive chiefly  because  of  a  strange  black  cape,  fash- 
ioned in  a  period  of  the  thirties,  which  fluttered  in 
the  wind  as  he  walked,  like  the  wings  of  a  huge 
bat.  He  succeeded  in  impressing  the  people  with 
an  idea  of  their  own  versatility,  and  incidentally 
of  the  composite  quality  of  his  own  power.  When 
a  debate  of  importance  in  which  he  figured  was  to 
occur,  when  it  was  most  formidable  and  of  extraor- 
dinary length,  it  was  an  unwritten  law  among  the 
members  of  the  House  to  cheer  him  enthusiasti- 
cally. Undoubtedly  he  was  a  great  orator.  He 
was  very  fond  of  using  scriptural  texts,  and  his 
interpretation  of  a  moralist  disarmed  many. 
Morally,  he  himself  was  not  handicapped  by  his 
personal  faith  in  his  own  moral  teachings.  The 
defects  of  his  character  would  have  been  incom- 
prehensible, if  he  had  not  been  so  strong-minded. 
The  end  of  his  career  resembled  a  dramatic  per- 
formance in  which  the  chief  characters  all  make 
their  exit  in  the  last  act. 
—306— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

The  attitude  of  Mr.  Gladstone  to  Queen  Vic- 
toria was  somewhat  complex  because  they  were  en- 
tirely different  intellectual  elements.  The  Queen 
had  not  lived  an  agitated  life.  Her  people  loved 
her,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  did  his  best  to  keep  up  the 
traditions  of  her  career,  to  maintain  the  character 
of  prevailing  etiquette.  He  created  the  custom 
of  morning  visits  to  Her  Majesty.  There  could 
be  no  complication  at  such  an  hour,  and  his  wisdom 
in  this  ceremony  was  applauded  by  the  English 
public. 

Mr.  Gladstone  demonstrated  his  love  of  sim- 
plicity, both  in  his  literary  and  architectural  activi- 
ties, for  he  had  many  alterations  made  in  the  pub- 
lic buildings.  When  the  people  of  London,  civil- 
ians and  soldiers,  were  massed  around  the  House 
of  Commons,  they  saluted  him.  His  open  glance 
would  frankly  take  in  the  homage  of  the  multitude, 
and  he  would  go  calmly  on,  and  enter  the  precincts 
of  Westminster.  He  was  very  fond  of  reading  the 
Psalms.  His  greatest  speeches  were  always  orig- 
inal and  impressive.  I  was  told  that  he  was  par- 
ticularly strict  about  his  office  details.  In  his  pri- 
vate office  he  frequently  dictated  orders  and  diplo- 
matic despatches,  and  he  kept  his  private  corre- 
spondence neatly  tied  up. 

—307— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

I  knew  him  when  he  had  passed  the  meridian  of 
life,  when  his  word  was  law,  when  his  actions  spoke 
loudly  and  yet  no  one  questioned  them.  His  po- 
litical standards  were  governed  by  two  immutable 
ideas — his  own  will,  and  the  will  of  the  people.  His 
chief  object  was  to  suppress  or  adjust  all  individual 
opinions  to  his  own  supreme,  liberal  ideas,  and  to 
develop  his  own  influence  throughout  Great  Britain. 
He  was  a  very  rich  man,  having  supplemented  his 
wealth  by  a  great  acquisition  of  property.  He 
often  said  that  the  queen  had  not  given  him  free 
reign,  but  he  loved  his  Sovereign  though  she  had 
compelled  him  to  do  things  which  often  were  repug- 
nant to  him.  Heaven  had  endowed  him  with  a 
great  gift  of  endurance,  and,  of  course,  he  did  not 
succumb  to  the  load  heaped  upon  him  by  his  politi- 
cal opponents.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  a  man  who  had 
a  natural  love  of  intrigue,  and  he  had  always  been 
conversant  with  the  politics  of  France  and  Ger- 
many. His  idea  of  monarchical  power  was  almost 
a  religious  dogma,  and  those  who  rejected  his  ideas 
were  pursued  with  vigour.  His  opponents  often 
smiled  at  his  defiance,  because  he  would  seize  by 
authority,  and  find  himself  incapable  of  using  his 
power  over  that  which  he  had  seized.  His  intel- 
—308— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

lect  delighted  in  eloquence,  for  he  was  a  serious 
man,  a  devoted  husband. 

There  was  scarcely  a  man  in  the  House  of  Par- 
liament who  did  not  fear  the  determined  look  in 
Mr.  Gladstone's  eyes.  He  was  great  in  thought, 
but  in  feeling  he  remained  a  Scotchman  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  Like  all  Scotch  people,  he  was  im- 
aginative, he  raised  altars  to  his  ideals.  His  own 
life  betrayed  his  illusions  sometimes,  and  his  ro- 
mantic instincts  led  him  into  sentimental  by-ways. 
Looking  over  his  achievements  to-day,  his  adminis- 
tration as  Prime  Minister  becomes  comprehensible. 
He  did  nothing  effectual  but  he  was  a  devout 
Christian,  and  he  could  not  comprehend  any  form 
of  government  but  a  monarchy. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  relations  with  royalty  were  cor- 
dial, but  I  think  he  knew  that  his  Queen  merely 
used  his  services,  and  had  no  other  sympathy  for 
him.  He,  however,  knew  the  value  of  the  men  who 
were  in  office  with  him,  for  he  had  sounded  their 
character.  The  men  he  appointed  were  judi- 
ciously selected  for  their  diplomatic  missions.  He 
only  demanded  firmness  and  loyalty  to  him,  and 
that  his  diplomatic  officers  should  not  concern 
themselves  either  with  the  objections  or  the  resist- 
ance of  other  nations. 

—309— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

The  English  people,  of  course,  knew  that  he  re- 
fused the  peerage,  but  he  was  a  very  headstrong 
man.  No  matter  how  uncertain  the  political  hori- 
zon looked,  Mr.  Gladstone  always  feigned  ignor- 
ance of  coming  events.  He  was  a  moralist,  but 
he  never  harangued  anybody  upon  that  theme,  and 
he  freely  ridiculed  them.  Frequently  Mr.  Glad- 
stone journeyed  to  his  Scottish  home  with  his  fam- 
ily, to  enjoy  a  thorough  rest  from  his  strenuous 
parliamentary  shouting,  and  congenial  friends 
would  be  invited.  The  public  had  great  interest 
in  his  private  home  life.  He  was  a  prudent  man, 
but  invariably  he  exceeded  the  proportions  of  his 
virtue;  generally  speaking,  he  was  cordial  but 
sometimes  he  limited  his  intercourse  to  a  purely 
conventional  exchange  of  civilities,  so  that  he  never 
lost  the  good  graces  of  his  friends.  His  political 
intuitions  were  keen. 

My  own  knowledge  and  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Gladstone,  though  slight,  impressed  me  that  he  was 
a  very  ambitious  man  and  an  ardent  partisan  of  all 
that  gave  him  a  chance  of  being  witty.  He  knew 
that  the  throne  of  England  was  quite  secure,  for 
there  could  be  no  honour  with  an  alliance  of  any 
foreign  power.  His  ideas  of  being  dependent 
upon  the  bounty  of  France  was  repellent  to  him,, 
—310— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

and  to-day,  if  some  have  lost  their  thrones,  have 
fled  to  foreign  countries  and  sought  refuge  in  the 
kingdoms  of  their  friends,  and  have  found  comfort 
and  ease  in  the  present  circumstances  and  being 
near  to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  well  he  has  kept 
the  crown.  The  series  of  exiled  monarchs  to  whom 
England  has  given  hospitality,  the  Sovereigns  of 
former  times,  were  not  familiar  with  revolutions 
and  their  ignorance  made  them  fearless;  they  de- 
spised precautions.  They  were  improvident,  they 
saved  nothing  for  a  rainy  day.  They  scorned  all 
business  and  looked  with  contempt  upon  all.  If 
they  lost  their  throne  and  fled  to  foreign  countries 
and  sought  refuge  in  their  friends'  homes,  their 
respectabilities  were  matters  of  chance,  and  all  this 
Gladstone  foresaw,  and  acted  accordingly  with 
honours  and  affections.  His  memory  must  be 
classed  in  recording  all  he  has  done  for  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.  The  king  and  the  Prince  of 
Wales  would  sit  in  the  gallery  and  listen  to  his 
eloquent  speeches  with  great  pleasure. 

Of  an  entirely  different  temperament  and  char- 
acter was  Disraeli.  He  was  a  complex  man,  and 
of  course,  as  every  one  knows,  a  great  favourite  of 
Queen  Victoria,  who  adored  him  for  making  her 
Empress   of   India.     The   English  people   them- 

—311— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

selves  quickly  recognised  in  him  a  conservative 
leader,  and  his  triumph  at  the  Congress  of  Berlin 
was  a  great  political  victory. 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  Lord  Beacons- 
field  and  his  wife  remains  very  vivid  in  my  mem- 
ory. Lord  Beaconsfield  had  a  very  wonderful  per- 
sonality, exceptional  magnetism  and  a  grace  of 
manner  that  always  put  every  one  at  their  ease.  He 
adopted  the  clothes  and  appearance  of  a  man  living 
in  the  period  of  the  Georges.  He  had  very  little 
hair  on  his  head,  when  I  knew  him,  an  extraordi- 
nary wisp  of  a  moustache,  well-shaped  hands,  and 
a  deportment  that  made  you  at  once  understand 
that  you  were  in  the  presence  of  an  accomplished 
gentleman. 

I  remember  chatting  with  him  once  in  Rotten 
Row,  and  we  discussed  the  success  of  Wagnerian 
Opera  at  Covent  Garden.  Lord  Beaconsfield  was 
very  fond  of  Wagner,  but  I  remember  he  deplored 
the  lack  of  refinement  in  the  production  and  the 
singers  at  that  time.  Especially  I  remember  he 
wore  very  tight  trousers,  high-heeled  patent  leather 
shoes,  white  spats,  a  bell-shaped  silk  hat,  and  yel- 
low kid  gloves  with  black  stripes.  Altogether  he 
was  a  "Dandy."  Lady  Beaconsfield,  although  in 
appearance  a  Grande  Dame,  did  not  go  into  so- 
—312— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

ciety  very  much.  Her  life  was  one  of  adoration 
and  love  for  her  husband,  so  that  her  time  was  de- 
voted entirely  to  him.  She  was  the  acme  of  refine- 
ment, tall,  elegant,  and  when  I  met  her  she  was 
growing  a  little  grey.  Of  course,  the  ladies  ad- 
mired His  Lordship  very  much,  and  he  may  have 
had  his  little  heart  affairs  but  they  were  looked 
upon  as  mere  unimportant  indiscretions.  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  it  will  not  do  to  let  the  world 
look  at  him  through  a  moral  spy-glass. 

Lord  Beaconsfield's  chaste  affections  for  Her 
Majesty  made  him  a  favourite  at  Windsor  Castle, 
and  he  rejoiced  in  this  show  of  good  will  from 
the  Queen.  In  literature,  which  was  one  of  the 
charms  of  his  busy  life,  the  reality  of  his  theme,  the 
truth  of  his  characterisation  crowned  his  work  with 
success.  His  books  were  translated  into  many  lan- 
guages, and  in  Germany  his  "Lothair"  was  widely 
read,  the  theme  of  matrimonial  love  turned  into 
friendship,  was  sublime !  His  wife  was  much  older 
than  he  was,  but  she  inspired  him.  Her  infatua- 
tion gleamed  through  all  his  books.  A  peculiarity 
of  Lord  Beaconsfield's  literature  is  that  it  always 
retained  the  highest  standards  of  delicacy,  and  his 
books  have  retained  their  literary  influence  to-day. 
All  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  have  been  admirers 

—313— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

of  their  quality.  The  Queen  delighted  in  them 
herself.  I,  for  one,  admired  them  so  much  that 
I  have  re-read  "Lothair"  once  a  year. 

It  seems  to  me  that  Lord  Beaconsfield  exerted  a 
dominant  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  our  mod- 
ern literature. 

His  social  success  was  dazzling,  because  he  was 
exquisitely  eloquent  and  polite,  and  there  was  a 
fiction  to  the  effect  that  Lord  Beaconsfield  was  re- 
garded as  a  survivor  of  a  mysterious  and  superior 
civilisation.  The  ladies  of  the  Court  of  St.  James 
were  proud  of  their  power  to  attract  the  notice  of 
this  distinguished  nobleman,  and  the  homage  he 
paid  them  was  of  a  kind  nobody  could  criticise. 
The  Queen's  acceptance  of  his  devotion  was  nat- 
urally a  confirmation  of  his  correctness  in  good 
manners,  for  Queen  Victoria  was  ever  critical, 
both  as  regards  to  form  and  conversation.  She  al- 
ways exacted  minute  attention  to  the  details  of 
civility,  and  the  manners  of  Disraeli  displayed  the 
peculiar  gallantry  of  the  epoch.  His  chivalry 
found  its  source,  no  doubt,  in  a  romanticism  which 
he  had  absorbed  from  other  countries,  like  France, 
for  instance,  and  there  were  nil  the  symptoms  of  a 
moral  in  his  romances. 

Disraeli  was  the  man  of  the  hour,  at  a  time  when 
—314— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

such  a  man  was  most  needed.  I  think  his  genius 
for  statesmanship  was  considerably  helped  by  his 
qualifications  as  an  author,  and  I  doubt  whether, 
without  the  latter  qualification  he  could  have  so 
well  comprehended  the  political  situation  of  his 
country.  How  much  the  ladies  thought  of  him  is 
shown  in  the  survival  of  that  organisation  of 
women  called  "The  Primrose  League."  It  exists 
in  a  spirit  of  love  for  his  memory,  to  do  him  honour. 
It  perpetuates  his  reputation  for  estheticism,  with 
which  he  surrounded  himself  in  his  early  youth. 
Long  before  he  entered  politics  he  had  devoted 
many  years  to  meditation  and  study,  so  that  when 
he  found  himself  in  the  political  arena  he  could 
stand  apart  from  his  politics  and  live  an  intellectual 
life  which  extricated  him  and  brought  to  light  the 
ideals  of  his  condition. 

His  contemporaries  have  declared  him  to  be 
always  real  and  natural.  Of  course,  he  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  his  opponents,  but  he  cared  nothing 
for  their  reproaches.  The  finest  sentiments  of  his 
character  he  distributed  lavishly  among  his  Lords 
and  Commons.  While  he  was  compelled  to  fight 
the  party  spirit,  his  pride  was  never  assailed. 

While  I  am  thinking  about  the  great  men  who 
were   leaders   of   national   life,   I   recall  meeting 

—315— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Mons.  Thier,  who  was  the  president  of  France. 
He  was  a  modest  little  man,  inclined  to  be  stout, 
and  he  looked  out  mildly  upon  the  world  through 
his  gold  spectacles.  Being  a  great  lawyer,  he  had 
all  the  technical  knowledge  necessary  to  overcome 
the  difficult  political  questions  which  confronted 
him,  and  his  persuasive  powers  of  conversation 
made  him  very  popular  with  the  ladies.  To  France, 
the  republican  form  of  government  was  new,  and 
he  certainly  administered  it  brilliantly,  for  it  was  a 
diplomatic  chaos. 

I  conversed  with  him  at  the  filysee,  Paris,  dur- 
ing a  very  large  reception,  and  I  remember  that 
he  avoided  politics  adroitly,  made  nice  little  ob- 
servations about  the  ladies'  gowns,  and  I  noticed 
that  the  general  crowd  did  not  interest  him  very 
much,  but  he  was  suave  and  gracious  to  a  degree. 
Later  I  met  Monsieur  Felix  Faure,  a  handsome, 
debonair,  elegant  man,  smart  to  a  fault,  and  a 
great  friend  of  the  ladies.  He  died  very  suddenly 
and  too  early  in  life,  and  the  truth  of  the  scandal 
which  his  death  evoked  may  be  questioned.  I  be- 
lieve the  French  people  liked  him  greatly. 

It  was  when  I  was  a  child,  perhaps  eight  years 
old,  that  I  saw  Bismarck,  the  greatest  living 
statesman  of  that  time.  The  incident  of  this  occa- 
—316— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

sion  reveals  the  fact  that  though  he  was  a  man  of 
an  iron  will,  he  had  his  soft  spots.  My  parents 
had  been  invited  to  the  country  seat  of  a  big  land- 
owner, whose  property  was  next  door  to  the  coun- 
try residence  of  the  then  modest  gentleman,  Herr 
von  Bismarck.  His  estate  was  called  "Schoen- 
hausen,"  and  was  about  five  miles  from  Berlin. 
With  some  other  children  we  were  playing  hide- 
and-seek  on  the  edge  of  this  property,  when  sud- 
denly he  appeared  standing  before  me.  To  my 
child  vision  he  was  just  a  tall  gentleman.  Rather 
autocratically  he  put  his  hand  on  my  very  abundant 
hair  and  said: 

"What  are  you  doing  here?" 

I  remember  the  sternness  of  his  manner  made 
me  tremble,  and  I  told  him  that  I  had  lost  my  way, 
explaining  to  him  that  we  were  the  guests  of  his 
neighbour. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  smilingly,  "but  you  are  not  my 
guest  at  all." 

"Please  excuse  me,  sir,"  I  said. 

"Well,  never  mind,  we'll  forget  it,"  he  said,  and 
he  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  we  walked  together. 
I  prattled,  and  he  listened,  and  then  he  gave  me  a 
smack   on  my   head,   and   a   beautiful   bunch   of 

—317— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

grapes.  Then,  he  lifted  me  over  the  shrubbery  out 
of  his  own  grounds. 

Bismarck  was  a  wonderful  husband  and  father, 
his  only  daughter,  Baroness  von  Rantzau,  I  believe 
still  survives  him,  and  his  two  sons.  Their  mother, 
the  Princess  Bismarck,  was  a  wonderfully  charm- 
ing and  clever  woman,  whom  I  met  years  ago. 
Bismarck  was  born  on  the  first  of  April,  univer- 
sally accepted  as  All  Fools'  Day,  yet  he  did  not 
fool  himself  or  others  during  his  life.  In  com- 
memoration of  his  birthday  fires  are  lighted  on  the 
heights  of  every  mountain,  on  his  anniversary,  to 
show  he  is  not  forgotten,  and  to  justify  the  rever- 
ence in  which  he  is  held. 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  a  passing 
word  concerning  Mr.  Asquith,  the  former  Prime 
Minister  of  England.  He  was  rather  command- 
ing in  appearance,  his  white  hair  giving  an  air  of 
dignity  to  him.  He  has  rather  a  broad  nose,  a  very 
steady  and  very  serious  look  in  his  eyes,  and  in  gen- 
eral appearance  is  a  benevolent  figure.  He  was 
very  much  liked  by  his  Party. 

Every  one  knows  the  reputation  for  cleverness 

which  his  wife,  his  second  wife,  by  the  way,  who 

was  Miss  Tennant,  has.     She  was  a  great  friend  of 

all  that  was  French  and  foreign.     Mr.  Asquith 

—318— 


MINISTERS  AND  PRIME  MINISTERS 

survived  those  times  when  men  changed  their  politi- 
cal parties  as  freely  as  they  change  their  gloves, 
and  he  was  always  among  the  "true  blues."  As 
Prime  Minister  he  contributed  no  novelty  in  scru- 
ples. He  was  famous  for  gallantry,  for  tender- 
ness, for  sentimental  influences. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  in  his  new  office  as  Prime 
Minister,  was  the  victim  of  much  grumbling  from 
a  great  many  families,  especially  Welsh,  they  be- 
ing his  native  neighbours.  He  was  very  clever,  a 
small  lawyer,  brought  up  in  an  obscure  town  in 
Wales.  His  sudden  rise  to  a  leading  political  po- 
sition in  the  world  is  very  admirable.  His  wife  is 
a  typical  housewife,  and  his  children  are  well  edu- 
cated and  very  smart  in  their  ways.  They  are 
turning  out  to  be  good  climbers.  Lloyd  George  in 
appearance  is  a  small  man,  of  sturdy  physique. 
His  iron-grey  hair  is  worn  in  a  rather  artistic  fash- 
ion, and  he  maintains  a  kindly  smile  on  his  lips. 
He  has  an  enormous  broad  forehead.  His  bosom 
friend  is  Lord  Reading,  and  I  used  to  meet  them 
often  walking  through  St.  James  Park  on  their 
way  from  the  House.  They  seemed  very  merry 
and  chatty. 


*— 319- 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  THE  WAR 

If  you  want  kindness,  be  kind; 
If  you  want  truth,  be  true. 
What  you  give,  you  will  find; 
Your  world  is  a  reflex  of  you. 

In  poetry  one  reads  the  prophetic  impulse  of  the 
race.  There  were  no  poets  to  prophesy  the  future 
in  that  brilliant  London  season  of  1914.  No  one, 
not  even  those  who  were  in  the  chronic  state  of  Brit- 
ish pessimism,  could  foresee  the  disaster  that  came 
upon  us  in  the  summer  of  1914.  Who  could  con- 
ceive, that  behind  the  glory  of  England's  supreme 
confidence  in  herself  at  this  time,  the  great  black 
clouds  of  war  were  slowly  gathering. 

The  season  of  1914  in  London  began  its  usual 
course  of  social  amusement  and  grandeur,  preced- 
ing the  Christmas  holidays  of  1913.  The  new  year 
followed  close  after  the  jingling  bells  of  Santa 
Claus  and  his  reindeers.  The  church  bells  of  Merrie 
England  announced  the  coming  of  1914  with  a  chal- 
—320— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

lenge  of  joyousness  and  prosperity  that  had  no 
jangling  note  in  them.  In  the  midst  of  the  merri- 
ment at  the  Christmas  house-parties,  there  was  no 
thought  of  war.  So  the  old  year  was  driven  out 
with  uproarious  delight,  and  the  new  year — 1914 — 
came  in  smiling,  confident,  unruffled  by  any  thought 
of  the  disaster  that  came  ultimately  like  a  thunder- 
bolt in  a  clear  sky. 

I  don't  think  London  was  ever  more  brilliant  and 
gorgeous  socially.  The  season  of  1914  was  the  most 
wonderful  I  can  remember  during  all  the  years  I 
have  lived  in  London.  The  opening  of  Parliament 
brought  the  social  leaders  to  town.  The  wives  of 
the  members  of  the  Lower  and  Upper  Houses 
opened  their  salons  earlier  than  usual,  planning 
their  entertainments  so  as  to  be  able  to  run  down  to 
their  country  places  for  the  Easter  holidays.  There 
was  the  usual  envy  and  ambition  among  the  most 
brilliant  and  beautiful  women,  those  who  were  de- 
butantes and  those  who  were  newly  married,  to  be 
presented  at  the  first  Drawing  Room  of  the  sea- 
son, in  February.  These  Court  presentations  were 
always  eagerly  looked  forward  to,  for  in  their  train 
followed  the  early  dances,  concerts,  and  receptions 
of  the  season.  The  first  Drawing  Room  at  Buck- 
ingham Palace  initiated  the  season.     Society  was 

—321— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

flippant,  gay  and  festive,  and  nobody  dreamt  of 
missing  any  one  of  the  brilliant  entertainments. 

The  subscriptions  for  the  Opera  season  at  Co- 
vent  Garden  had  never  been  bigger.  Every  box 
was  taken,  there  was  not  a  seat  to  be  had.  Your 
horseshoe  curve  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House 
in  New  York  resembles  very  much,  in  its  fash- 
ionable importance,  the  display  of  diamonds  and 
gowns  one  sees  at  Covent  Garden  during  the  Lon- 
don season.  As  in  New  York,  the  London  sub- 
scribers at  the  Opera  have  their  notables,  their  fab- 
ulous wealth  in  diamonds  and  pearls  to  display, 
their  cavaliers,  and  their  bored  millionaires.  I  re- 
member a  wonderful  toilette  of  turquoise  velvet 
miroir  worn  by  Lady  Weyms,  to  whom  the  Mar- 
quis de  Sovaral  was  paying  homage.  Then  there 
was  that  wonderful  toilette  of  Lady  de  Trafford, 
of  white  jet  and  similes,  with  the  elegant  figure  of 
Lord  Vane-Tempest  in  the  background.  Then 
there  was  Mrs.  Newhouse,  with  Mrs.  Bradley  Mar- 
tin, in  her  box,  wearing  a  shell-pink  crepe  de  chine, 
with  those  wonderful  pearls,  and  one,  single  crim- 
son rose. 

Among  the  distinguished  women  of  beauty  and 
aristocratic  lineage  whose  presence  in  this  horseshoe 
curve  at  Covent  Garden  is  a  memory  never  to  be 
—322— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

forgotten,  was  the  Countess  of  Ripon,  a  woman  of 
wonderful  Junoesque  figure,  with  snow-white  hair 
and  with  youthful  face,  which  I  have  noticed  is  a 
feature  of  some  of  the  most  beautiful  American 
women.  Her  toilettes  were  always  simple  but  dis- 
tingue. One  in  particular,  I  remember,  of  black 
velour  chiffon,  a  princess  gown  without  a  vestige  of 
trimming.  The  only  touch  of  colour  was  a  Dijon 
rose  in  her  corsage.  She  was  really  a  most  com- 
manding figure. 

Then  there  was  the  Countess  Massarene  and  Fer- 
rar.  She  was  a  tall,  graceful  woman  of  the  orien- 
tal type.  She  affected  daring  colours,  which  suited 
her  well.  She  was  the  Eastern  Princess  of  that 
horseshoe  curve  at  Covent  Garden. 

Another  stately  woman,  whom  everybody  ad- 
mired at  the  Opera,  was  Lady  Maude  Warrender, 
the  sister  of  Lord  Shaftesbury.  I  remember  how 
exquisite  she  looked  in  a  beautiful  gown  of  a  pale 
satin  miroir  shot  with  yellow  and  Marechal  au 
Niel  roses.  She  has  become  celebrated  for  her  char- 
ity and  her  amiability  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  She  possesses  a  beautiful  soprano  voice,  and 
frequently  sings  for  charitable  affairs. 

I  found  it  inspiring  to  look  at  this  coterie  of  beau- 
tiful women,  who  are  the  best  "turned  out"  women 

—323— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

in  English  society,  because  most  of  their  toilettes 
emanated  from  my  house.  I  take  no  special  credit 
in  this,  because  it  was  not  difficult  to  adorn  such 
beauty. 

This  season  of  1914,  in  London,  was  the  most 
brilliant;  it  was  full  of  the  gladness  and  joy  of 
pleasure. 

A  dominating  figure  of  this  London  season  also 
was  Mrs.  Asquith,  the  wife  of  the  Prime  Minister. 
As  all  the  world  knows,  she  is  a  remarkable  woman. 
Her  love  and  taste  for  music  made  her  entertain- 
ments much  sought  after,  especially  as  her  daugh- 
ter was  a  very  clever,  sparkling  girl.  Mrs.  Asquith 
was  a  great  favourite  of  the  late  Prime  Minister, 
Mr.  Gladstone,  and  before  her  marriage,  as  Miss 
Tennant,  was  one  of  the  social  features  of  London 
society.  With  her  sister,  the  late  Lady  Riblesdale, 
whose  husband,  Lord  Riblesdale,  was  the  Beau 
Brummel  of  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Edward 
VII,  she  dominated  a  certain  cultured  element  of 
London  society.  In  this  last  great  social  season  in 
London,  of  1914,  Mrs.  Asquith  was  decidedly  one 
of  the  cleverest  women  in  England.  Her  daughter, 
Miss  Elizabeth  Asquith,  assisted  her  mother  socially 
at  those  delightful  receptions  of  the  Prime  Min- 
ister. They  were  very  largely  attended,  and  it  was 
—324— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

obvious  that  no  party  spirit  prevailed  at  them. 
There  was  only  a  pleasant  atmosphere  which  is 
usually  inspired  by  intellect  and  charm.  English 
society  women  have  a  notorious  tact  for  drawing 
the  line  very  sharply  between  social  degrees.  Their 
talent  for  this  was  very  obvious  at  the  exclusive 
afternoon  teas  and  receptions.  They  rarely  made 
a  mistake  in  the  mixture  of  their  social  "salads,"  if 
one  may  apply  a  vegetarian  phrase,  hence  the  un- 
usual success  of  English  hostesses. 

Those  afternoon  teas,  with  a  little  music,  and  a 
great  deal  of  flirtation,  were  not  a  bit  abated  at  the 
opening  of  the  London  season  in  1914.  As  in 
New  York,  the  ladies  gathered  at  small  tables  in 
public  tea  rooms.  The  biggest  crowd  could  be 
seen  in  London  at  Rumpelmeiers',  and  at  the 
Carl,  in.  The  howling  swells  howled  just  as 
loudly  as  they  had  ever  done,  and  those  social  sirens, 
Lady  Sybil  Grant,  the  Countess  Crewe  and  her 
step-daughters,  added  to  the  gaiety  of  the  scene  by 
always  bringing  with  them  a  galaxy  of  pretty  girls. 
Lady  Sybil  Grant  was  the  daughter  of  Lord  Rose- 
bery,  the  granddaughter  of  the  late  Duchess  of 
Cleveland;  her  mother,  nee  Rothschild,  was  one  of 
the  cleverest  women  of  her  day,  who  brought  to  her 
husband,  on  their  marriage,  a  golden  casket  con- 

— 325— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

taining  a  million  pounds.  The  salon  was  famous 
because  of  her  wit  as  a  hostess  and  also  because  of 
her  staunch  conservatism.  She  was  a  great  admirer 
and  personal  friend  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  the  Em- 
pire maker. 

The  Countess  Crewe  is  the  second  wife  of  the 
Earl  of  Crewe.  She  was  the  elder  daughter  of 
Lord  Rosebery.  The  step -daughters  of  Countess 
Crewe  were  very  pretty  and  great  favourites  in 
society  during  this  momentous  season. 

It  was  in  these  tea  rooms  that  engagements  were 
made  for  the  soirees  dansantes.  Among  the  most 
successful  of  these  events  were  the  soirees  dansantes 
at  the  Duchess  of  Wellington's,  who,  with  her 
daughters,  made  everybody  so  very  comfortable. 

Among  the  other  leaders  of  the  season  of  1914 
were  the  Duchess  of  Portland,  whose  lavish  enter- 
tainments at  Welbeck  Abbey  were  famous,  and  the 
Duchess  of  Somerset,  who  encouraged  the  gilded 
youths  of  London  by  always  having  a  bevy  of  the 
prettiest  debutantes  at  her  dances.  The  Duchess 
of  Somerset  was  among  the  first  of  the  London  hos- 
tesses to  permit  the  Turkey-Trot  and  Tango  to  be 
danced  at  her  house.  There  were  many  noble  man- 
sions where  these  dances  were  barred. 

The  most  exclusive  parties  were  those  given  by 
—326— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

the  Duchess  of  Devonshire  and  the  Duchess  of 
Portland. 

The  Duchess  of  Portland  (nee  Dallas  Yorke) 
was  the  envy  of  the  women  of  fashion  in  London 
because  she  managed,  better  than  other  matrons, 
to  retain  her  slender,  graceful  figure.  She  always 
had  a  very  girlish  appearance.  Her  pearls  were 
famous,  and  she  was  always  recognisable  by  her 
favourite  bunch  of  Malmaison  carnations  which 
she  always  wore.  She  looked  every  inch  a  Duchess. 
During  all  the  years  that  she  has  been  a  social 
leader  in  London,  the  Duchess  of  Portland  has  re- 
tained a  singular  reputation  for  exclusiveness,  be- 
ing absolutely  immune  of  a  breath  of  scandal,  to 
which  English  society  women  have  been  so  justly 
or  unjustly  exposed.  Her  little  daughter  is  the 
image  of  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Portland.  She  is 
petite,  dark,  dainty.  She  was  very  much  appre- 
ciated socially.  Her  eldest  brother,  Lord  Tich- 
borne,  joined  the  rest  of  the  Englishmen  for  the 
good  cause. 

Her  Grace  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  Mistress 
of  the  Robes  to  Her  Majesty  Queen  Mary,  is  the 
daughter  of  that  most  exclusive  and  proud  aristo- 
crat, the  Duchess  of  Buccleuch,  who  herself  was  the 
late  Mistress  of  the  Robes,  and  the  intimate  friend 

327— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

of  her  late  Majesty  Queen  Victoria.  Her  home 
was  the  most  distinguished  and  the  most  select  in 
London.  Nobody  ever  entered  it  whose  credentials 
or  whose  history  had  ever  had  the  slightest  stain 
upon  them.  Their  receptions  were  gorgeous,  al- 
ways royal.  Their  expenditures  for  these  recep- 
tions were  fabulous.  From  their  Scotch  estate  came 
such  quantities  of  game  and  other  appetising  re- 
sources that  their  Chef  de  Cuisine  retired  with  a 
fortune  and  opened  a  hotel  for  himself  in  the  south 
of  France.  Neither  Her  Grace  the  Duchess  nor 
the  Duke  could  or  would  dictate  to  their  chef,  hence 
his  personal  fortune  was  made.  To-day  economy  is 
practised  everywhere,  even  in  this  ducal  household, 
and  restrictions  are  vigorously  enforced.  They 
were  ultra  conservative,  exclusive  to  a  fault. 

Westminster  House  was  a  magnificent  edifice. 
The  reception  and  ball  rooms  were  modelled  after 
the  period  of  Charles  II.  There  was  a  wonderful 
parquet  floor,  exquisite  chandeliers  and  crystal  side- 
lights. The  illumination  of  this  room  was  chiefly 
with  old-fashioned  wax  candles,  which  gave  it  a 
peculiar  charm.  The  Duchess  of  Westminster's 
affairs,  that  is  to  say,  her  entertainments  and  balls, 
had  the  flavour  of  ultra-modern  democracy.  One 
saw  a  great  deal  of  physical  beauty  at  them,  one 
—328— 


THE    COUNTESS    OF    WARWICK 

The  beautiful  Countess  of  Warwick,  who  was  in  high  favor  with  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  It  was  the  author's  privilege  to  make  most  of  the  gowns,  the  lingerie, 
and  the  robes  de  unit  of  this  famous  court  beauty. 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

heard  a  great  deal  of  wit,  one  saw  exquisitely 
dressed  women,  and  a  great  deal  of  parvenu  and 
get-rich-quicks.  The  Duchess  was  very  fond  of 
blue,  it  was  her  favourite  colour.  Her  lovely 
mother  the  Duchess  of  Buccleuch  had,  socially,  been 
triumphant,  for  among  her  relatives  she  could  boast 
of  a  princess  and  a  duchess.  She  also  had  reigned 
supreme  in  that  trio  of  beautiful  women  whom  the 
Prince  of  Wales  (later  King  Edward  VII)  ad- 
mired so  much.  They  were  Mrs.  Cornwallis-West, 
Mrs.  Langtry,  and  Mrs.  Wheeler.  It  was  an  em- 
barrassing choice  for  His  Majesty  between  these 
"Three  Graces." 

The  day's  work  for  a  society  enthusiast  never  in- 
cluded less  than  two  receptions,  a  tea,  and  a  ball 
which  lasted  until  the  early  morning  hours.  For 
instance,  one  might  go  from  a  ball  given  by  the 
Duchess  of  Westminster  to  a  musicale  at  Lady  M. 
Paget's  house.  It  was  at  Mrs.  Paget's  home  that 
one  was  sure  to  meet  those  beautiful  American 
women,  Madame  von  Andree  and  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Chauncey  Depew,  both  delightful  hostesses. 

The  Duchess  of  Marlborough,  in  her  lovely  home 
in  Curzon  Street,  always  presented  something  novel 
in  the  way  of  amateur  theatricals,  and  the  Marquise 
de  Hautepool,  the  great  friend  of  Her  Majesty 

—329— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Queen  Alexandra,  was  a  very  distinguished  person- 
ality. She  had  quantities  of  ash-blonde  hair,  classic 
features,  a  slight,  graceful  figure,  and  more  im- 
maculate toilettes.  She  dressed  in  some  degree  to 
copy  Her  Majesty  Queen  Alexandra's  style,  whose 
most  intimate  friend  she  was  and  still  is.  Her 
agreeable  manners  made  her  very  much  desired. 

Of  course,  London  society  would  have  seemed 
dull  without  the  presence  of  the  Countess  of  War- 
wick. Having  no  suspicion  of  the  terrible  disaster 
which  came  upon  us  towards  the  end  of  the  season 
in  London,  there  was  no  economy  in  gowns.  The 
Countess  of  Warwick  remained,  as  she  always  had 
been  in  London  society,  one  of  those  adorable 
women  who  know  how  to  appear  always  at  their 
best.  Her  toilettes  were  in  the  very  best  of  taste, 
and  as  she  had  carte  blanche,  there  was  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  be.  She  was  always  so  beauti- 
ful that  she  would  lend  enchantment  to  the  dress- 
maker's inspiration.  The  elder  son,  Lord  Brook, 
married  a  daughter  of  the  beautiful  Lady  Eden, 
whom  Whistler  made  famous.  Lady  Brook  was 
almost  as  beautiful  as  her  mother,  slender  and  sweet 
as  a  mignonette.  They  have  one  little  boy.  Lord 
Brook  joined  the  First  Life  Guards  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war.  Lady  Warwick's  daughter,  the 
—330— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAE 

Countess  of  Faversham,  quite  recently  became  a 
widow,  losing  her  husband,  I  believe,  at  Mons. 

Those  recherche  dinners,  given  by  Mrs.  Bishops- 
heim  and  her  daughter,  the  Lady  Fitzgerald,  and 
her  granddaughter  in  their  sumptuous  mansions  in 
South  Audley  Street,  were  very  much  sought  after. 
Her  house  was  furnished  superbly.  She  often  en- 
tertained royalties,  for  she  was  a  brilliant  hostess. 
She  dressed  very  sedately  but  very  richly,  and, 
above  all,  she  knew  how  to  grow  old  gracefully. 

I  was  busier  during  this  London  season  of  1914 
than  I  had  ever  been  before.  There  are  few  recol- 
lections of  beautifully  gowned  women  that  are  any 
clearer  in  my  mind  than  the  pretty  figure  of  the 
daughter  of  the  Countess  of  Lytton. 

"My  daughter's  gown  for  to-night,  Madame,  it 
will  be  very  smart?"  the  Countess  asked  me,  with 
such  tremulous  eagerness.  She  was  a  simple,  de- 
lightful girl,  and  the  gown  I  made  for  her  was  a 
thing  of  freshness  in  tulle  and  snowdrops.  It  was 
most  appropriate  for  the  girl's  slender  blonde 
beauty.    She  looked  like  a  snowdrop. 

Madame  Melba  was  the  rage  of  this  London  sea- 
son at  the  Opera.  She  scored  tremendously  in  "La 
Boheme."  Personally,  I  thought  it  was  unfortunate 
that  she  had  acquired  the  elderly  spread  of  figure, 

—331— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

which  was  unbecoming  to  Mimi.  However,  Mel- 
ba's  success  was  not  marred  whatsoever  by  this 
deficiency. 

The  beautiful  Mrs.  Stevens-Kent,  whose  hair, 
though  almost  white,  did  not  detract  from  the  fresh 
youthfulness  of  her  face,  was  a  distinguished  fig- 
ure at  the  Opera,  sitting  in  her  mother-in-law's  box, 
smothered  in  diamonds  that  were  like  coals.  They 
were  the  famous  black  diamonds  from  Brazil. 
Their  gorgeous  mansion  at  Belgrave  Square  was  a 
very  popular  place  of  entertainment. 

Mrs.  Clarence  Mackay's  social  gatherings  in 
Carleton  House  Terrace  were  among  the  famous 
events  of  London  society  in  1914.  Her  soirees  mu- 
sicales  always  included  such  famous  stars  as  Ku- 
belik,  Kreisler,  Mischa  Elman,  Madame  Destin, 
and  others.  She  always  has  some  great  figure  in 
the  musical  world  of  all  but  priceless  value,  and 
her  soirees  musicales  were  a  perfect  crush.  Antici- 
pating the  great  crowds  that  would  fill  her  room, 
she  originated  a  very  unique  way  of  keeping  them 
cool.  Huge  blocks  of  ice  were  cleverly  hidden  un- 
der smilax  bushes.  There  were  other  features 
equally  surprising.  Little  miniature  lakes,  where 
one  could  play  with  miniature  boats.  On  one  occa- 
sion her  surprise  to  society  was  a  water  tank  with 
—332— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

real  fish,  with  tackle  supplied  for  the  guests  to  hook 
them.  Mrs.  Clarence  Mackay,  at  this  time,  was  a 
singular  figure.  She  usually  dressed  in  faultless 
white  satin,  not  a  vestige  of  colour.  One  rope  of 
pearls  clasped  by  a  huge  sapphire,  and  one  black 
pearl.  She  was  very  oriental  looking,  and  was  usu- 
ally surrounded  by  the  Indian  princes  who  hap- 
pened to  be  visiting  in  London.  The  Maharajah 
of  Kooch-Behar  and  the  Maharajah  Agar-Khan 
usually  appeared  superbly  dressed  in  their  na- 
tive robes.  It  is  customary  for  the  foreign  at- 
taches, wearing  their  brilliant  uniforms,  to  attend 
these  musicales.  Many  of  the  Ambassadors  were 
also  present  with  their  wives.  One  often  saw  the 
Prince  and  Princess  Lichnowsky,  the  German 
Ambassador  and  his  wife,  Monsieur  and  Madame 
La  Laing,  the  Belgian  Minister  and  his  wife.  These 
fetes,  given  by  Mrs.  Clarence  Mackay  in  London 
in  this  last  year  of  social  splendour,  were  indeed 
very  famous. 

Mrs.  Hope-Vere  was  among  the  beautiful  women 
who  were  conspicuous  during  this  last  season  of 
London  gaiety.  Her  salons  were  always  filled  with 
people,  and  she  was  famous  among  her  friends  for 
her  skill  in  choosing  the  right  colours  and  the  most 
graceful  designs  in  gowns. 

—333— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

The  Princes'  Skating  Club,  a  private  and  exclu- 
sive skating  rink,  where  only  the  best  society  at- 
tended, gave  Mrs.  Hope-Vere  her  opportunity  to 
appear  in  a  skating  costume  that  was  very  attrac- 
tive and  appropriate.  It  was  a  dark  bottle-green 
Velvet  trimmed  with  skunk  fur,  with  a  muff  and 
stole  to  match.  The  Princes'  Skating  Club  was 
really  one  of  the  features  of  London  society  in 
1914.  To  become  a  member  you  had  to  be  intro- 
duced, then  voted  upon  by  ballot,  before  you  could 
even  be  admitted.  The  result  was  that  the  most 
wonderful  skating  costumes  were  always  exhibited 
at  these  gatherings.  At  tea-time  it  was  impossible 
to  find  a  seat  in  the  tea-rooms,  unless  you  had  or- 
dered a  table  beforehand. 

The  Duchess  of  W could  often  be  seen  with 

Mr.  Gennadius  of  St.  Moritz  fame,  exhibiting  his 
wonderful  skating  evolutions  with  her. 

To  those  who  were  familiar  with  the  romances  of 
high  life  the  graceful  figures  which  these  two  people 
exhibited  on  the  ice  were  also  a  demonstration  of 
a  deeper  meaning  to  the  heart.  Their  romance 
began  in  the  Tyrolean,  now  Bavarian  Alps,  it  be- 
gan on  the  very  peak  of  the  snow-capped  moun- 
tains of  Pontrasina  at  St.  Moritz.  Who  has  not 
inhaled  the  pure  air  amidst  these  scenes  of  snow- 
—334— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

white  purity?  The  leitmotif  of  this  exuberant  ro- 
mance was  the  Alpine  simplicity  and  grandeur. 
Of  course  it  was  exhilarating,  and  the  romance  en- 
twined itself  about  the  hearts  of  the  Duchess  and 
the  exhibition  skater  with  binding  vows  that  were 
never  broken.  Any  one  who  visited  the  Tyrol  coun- 
try in  the  winter,  will  remember  how  fascinating 
those  snow-capped  nooks  and  corners  are,  where 
the  little  lichen-trees  are  almost  entirely  buried  un- 
der the  snow.  It  is  a  place  where  the  tragedies  and 
comedies,  and  perhaps  burlesques,  of  love  play 
havoc  with  men  and  women  regardless  of  social 
position.  That  is  how  these  two  drifted  into  a 
lovely  dream,  and  were  rudely  awakened  by  the 
great  monster — scandal.  It  requires  a  sovereign  to 
pour  oil  upon  the  troubled  waters  of  this  clandes- 
tine affair  in  an  otherwise  placid  household.  The 
Duke  and  Duchess  parted.  The  Duchess  has  be- 
come a  Sister  of  Charity,  for  the  good  of  the  cause. 
It  is  also  interesting,  while  dwelling  upon  the 
brilliancy  of  this  last  London  season,  to  record  the 
popularity  of  the  officers  of  the  Crack  Regiments 
in  London  then.  The  officers  of  the  Second  Life 
Guards,  the  Blues,  the  Seventh  and  Twelfth  Hus- 
sars, were  especially  sought  after.  They  were  very 
good  fellows,  although  very  often  they  preferred 

—335— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

sitting  out  a  dance,  either  on  the  grand  staircase  or 
in  the  conservatory,  where  they  indulged  in  a  little 
love-making,  a  little  wit,  where  they  became  en- 
gaged to  the  prettiest  girls  of  the  season,  who,  of 
course,  did  not  dream  that  their  stalwart,  handsome 
husbands  would  be  called  to  fight  other  battles  than 
those  of  love. 

I  recall  the  mysterious  effect  upon  the  gaiety  of 
the  crowds,  of  the  first  rumours  of  war  in  Lon- 
don, toward  the  end  of  the  season  of  1914.  How 
easily  they  were  swayed  from  pillar  to  post.  Of 
course,  many  people  took  advantage  of  the  stock 
market,  while  the  turmoil  in  London  grew  louder. 
Suddenly,  one  day,  the  streets  were  full  of  people, 
whispering.  One  saw  the  recruiting  sergeants,  pa- 
rading up  and  down  the  principal  thoroughfares. 

The  public  houses  were  crowded  to  suffocation,  and 
the  music  halls  were  ringing  with  patriotic  songs. 

Every  one  was  shouting  "On  to  Berlin." 
Such  songs  as  "Sister  Susie's  Sewing  Shirts  for 
Soldiers"  filled  the  air.  Knitting  needles  were  in 
every  woman's  hands.  All  London  became  ab- 
sorbed in  making  socks,  shawls,  mufflers,  for 
"Tommy  Atkins."  The  Clubs  were  besieged  with 
inquiries.  All  who  were  not  English  by  birth  went 
panic-stricken  to  the  Home  Office  to  obtain  pass- 
—336— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

ports.  For  two  weeks  there  was  a  universal  cor- 
diality from  the  British  authorities  towards  those 
who  wanted  to  return.  I,  myself,  desired  to  be 
naturalised,  and  with  my  lawyers  waited  hours  un- 
til my  turn  came  to  make  my  application.  Univer- 
sal courtesy  was  shown  me  by  officers  and  well- 
meaning  police  officers,  who  handed  me  my  papers 
to  sign,  adjusted  many  photographs  of  me  to  the 
papers,  and  then  hoped,  as  did  thousands  of  other 
people,  that  all  would  be  well. 

Everything  had  been  moving  along  gaily  and 
charmingly  in  England,  up  to  this  time.  Even  the 
murmurs  and  whisperings  of  July,  1914,  had  not 
reached  the  people.  Those  who  were  behind  the 
scenes,  and  saw  the  huge  war  clouds  rolling  up, 
wisely  concluded  that  silence  is  golden. 

When  the  shell  exploded,  and  its  tremendous 
noise  shattered  the  European  foundations,  business 
became  immediately  at  a  standstill.  The  morato- 
rium was  declared,  and  many  people  gladly  accept- 
ed the  opportunity  to  escape  their  debts.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  Emergency  Act,  and  slackers  in  pay- 
ment under  normal  conditions  felt  very  much  re- 
lieved of  their  debts  pro  tern. 

It  was  in  the  face  of  this  crisis  that  the  aristo- 

—337— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

cratic  world  of  London  took  the  initiative  so  splen- 
didly. 

So  many  women,  prominent  in  London  society, 
changed  the  whole  course  of  their  social  lives  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  war. 

Lady  Horlick  at  once  sent  a  dozen  automobiles 
to  the  Front  for  ambulance  service,  including  her 
own.  The  Duchess  of  Westminster  was  one  of  the 
first  English  women  who  went  to  the  Front  to 
nurse  the  soldiers.  Lady  Fitz-Ponsonby  crossed 
the  Channel  at  once  to  distribute  food  and  give  first 
aid.  Lady  de  Trafford  entered  the  hospital  to 
study  nursing,  and  served  at  the  Red  Cross. 

Lady  Ermyntrude  Malet  opened  her  magnificent 
home  in  London  to  the  convalescent.  Lady  Water- 
loo became  a  Red  Cross  nurse.  Mrs.  Dale-Lace 
took  a  course  in  nursing  at  St.  Thomas's  Hospital. 
Lady  St.  Maur  and  Lady  Brassey,  the  Duchess 
of  Somerset,  the  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  all  loaned 
their  mansions  to  the  wounded.  Lady  Talbot, 
Countess  Fitzwilliam,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle, — 
there  were  hundreds  of  these  distinguished  society 
leaders  who  adapted  themselves  to  menial  work  in 
the  hospitals.  No  work  was  too  hard  for  them — 
they  spared  neither  money  nor  pains  to  relieve  the 
sufferings  of  their  unfortunate  heroes.  It  is  a  great 
—338— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

testimony  to  the  character  of  these  society  women, 
that  they  made  these  magnificent  sacrifices  to  help 
and  encourage  "Tommy  Atkins." 

Tea  parties  became  veritable  sewing-bees.  After 
the  declaration  of  war  in  August,  1914,  sewing  and 
knitting  were  the  only  occupation  known  to  society. 
A  central  office  was  established  in  London,  where 
bedding  and  clothing  could  be  sent,  to  be  forwarded 
to  the  front.  I,  among  others,  of  course,  sent  quan- 
tities of  blankets  and  sheets,  and  made  hundreds  of 
woollen  shirts  for  the  soldiers,  until  one  morning  I 
was  physically  and  mentally  shocked  by  a  request 
to  leave  England.  My  maid  brought  up  my  break- 
fast to  my  bedroom,  and  on  the  tray  I  saw  a  formid- 
able-looking envelope  from  the  Home  Office.  I  de- 
bated whether  I  should  open  it  before  breakfast  or 
not.  Curiosity  made  me  waver.  I  broke  the  seal, 
and  as  I  read  and  re-read  the  formal  communica- 
tion, I  became  speechless.  My  tears  blinded  me 
as  I  read  the  polite  and  very  courteous  request  to 
leave  England  within  ten  days.  The  British  Gov- 
ernment also  generously  contributed  for  my  depar- 
ture a  capital  of  ten  pounds.  I  went,  myself,  and 
secured  an  eminent  firm  of  solicitors  to  intercede 
for  me  with  Sir  John  Simonds,  who  was  then 
Home  Secretary.    The  result  was  that  I  was  per- 

—339— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

mitted  three  weeks  in  which  to  prepare  for  my  de- 
parture, to  take  with  me  what  I  could  gather  before 
I  became  expatriated.  So  I  had  to  leave  the  land 
where  I  had  lived  for  forty-three  years  as  a  loyal 
and  devoted  subject,  the  land  I  hope  to  end  my  days 
in  when  hostilities  are  over. 

My  experience  was  probably  little  different  from 
thousands  of  others  whom  the  British  Government 
helped  because  their  alien  connections  might  be  in- 
imical to  the  welfare  of  Great  Britain. 

In  my  despair  and  distress  I  addressed  Her  Maj- 
esty, Queen  Mary,  hoping  that  it  could  be  possible 
for  the  Queen  of  England  to  intercede  in  my  be- 
half. Her  Majesty  replied,  with  her  usual  gra- 
ciousness  and  kindness  of  heart,  that  she  would 
be  unable  to  assist  me. 

All  London  by  this  time  became  the  centre  of 
patriotic  England.  The  beautiful  women  whom 
I  have  gowned  and  whose  fetes  I  had  attended,  for- 
got all  about  dressmaking  and  clothes.  Elabo- 
rate entertainments  were  immediately  started  to 
gather  funds  to  take  care  of  those  poor  people  whose 
men  were  ordered  to  the  Front,  and  were  conse- 
quently left  dependent  upon  some  form  of  accept- 
able charity. 

The  Duchess  of  Rutland,  Lady  Diana  Manners, 
—340— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

and  Lady  Beerbohm-Tree  were  especially  active  in 
instituting  wonderful  entertainments  to  gather 
funds  for  this  purpose.  My  own  observation  was 
that  the  poor  were  literally  overwhelmed  with  good 
things.  One  woman,  who  lived  near  my  residence, 
informed  me  that  she  had  never  had  so  much  money 
in  her  life  before,  nor  so  much  freedom  to  use  it. 
This  may  have  been  because  her  man  was  at  the 
Front.  My  grocer  told  me  that  expensive  dainties 
were  now  purchased  almost  exclusively  by  coach- 
men and  chauffeurs. 

While  the  aristocratic  quarters  of  London  were 
economising  England  was  greatly  aroused  by  the 
Belgian  disaster.  This  demonstration  seemed  to 
touch  the  hearts  of  the  middle  class,  seemed  to  im- 
press them  with  a  sense  of  their  moral  obligation 
to  support  their  own  poor.  I  know  of  many  cases 
where  well-to-do  families  took  the  deserving  poor 
into  their  own  homes  and  gave  them  the  most  hu- 
mane and  charitable  care.  I  know  of  cases  where 
aristocratic  mansions  with  their  entire  retinue  of 
servants  were  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  homeless 
exiled  from  Belgium.  English  charity  is  pro- 
verbial. There  is  no  country  in  the  world  sup- 
porting so  many  hospitals  and  institutions  by  volun- 
tary contributions  as  England,  and  yet  there  are 

—341— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

no  greater  contrasts  of  misery  and  great  wealth 
than  one  finds  in  Great  Britain. 

Almost  as  soon  as  the  war  broke  out,  the  society 
beauties  of  London  became  absorbed  in  charitable 
work. 

I  recall  Lady  Hesquith,  an  American  beauty,  as 
among  those  who  were  especially  active.  Her  re- 
ceptions before  the  war  had  been  very  distinguished. 
Lady  Stewart-Richardson,  whose  dancing  excited 
New  York  society  a  short  while  ago,  symbolised  her 
feeling  of  "sack  cloth  and  ashes"  by  adopting  the 
oriental  dress  of  the  Hindoos  for  every-day  life. 
She  wore  sandals  in  the  streets  of  London,  and  her 
veils  were  so  adjusted  that  one  could  hardly  see  her 
eyes. 

Among  the  last  brilliant  entertainments  given 
on  the  eve  of  the  war  in  London,  were  those  at  The 
Mansion  House,  where  Lady  Wakefield  and  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  London  dispensed  hospitality. 
Every  one  talked  about  them.  Lady  Wakefield 
dressed  superbly.  She  is  a  majestic-looking  woman. 
I  recall  how  exquisite  she  looked  in  a  gown  of  real 
lace  most  beautifully  draped.  The  train  was  of 
rich  white  Duchess  satin,  it  was  of  great  length  and 
was  carried  by  Maids  of  Honour  dressed  in  pink 
taffeta.  The  cortege  was  beautiful  in  the  extreme. 
—342— 


LAST  LONDON  SEASON  BEFORE  WAR 

The  Mansion  House  itself  is  a  revelation  of  beauty. 
The  grand  reception  room,  with  the  portraits  of 
former  great  city  magnates,  is  very  impressive. 

I  expect  that  in  this  room,  some  day,  not  far  dis- 
tant, there  will  be  a  more  impressive  gathering, 
when  the  industrial  disaster  of  war  will  be  adjusted. 


—343— 


CHAPTER  XX 

MY  LAST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

The  disaster  crept  upon  London  so  gently  as  to 
be  scarcely  taken  as  a  threat  to  the  social  gaieties. 
Of  course,  we  women  had  been  told  how  fortifica- 
tions were  being  rebuilt,  and  many  other  details 
which  pointed  to  a  certain  unrest  in  national  life. 
Finally  all  eyes  were  obliged  to  see  that  England 
was  embroiled  in  a  fighting  campaign,  brought 
about  I  should  say  by  the  factions  of  different  opin- 
ions. 

The  first  real  expression  of  war  came  to  pass 
when  we  saw  troops  marching  through  the  streets, 
who  were  being  called  out  for  service.  Of  course, 
there  was  a  prevailing  spirit  of  optimism,  but  at 
the  dinner  parties  there  was  a  forced  merriment 
that  did  not  entirely  escape  notice.  In  the  midst 
of  the  most  riotous  jests,  extraordinary  rumours 
reached  us.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  criticism,  for 
it  is  impossible  for  English  people  to  believe  that 
their  idea  of  invulnerable  national  strength  could 
—344— 


MY  LAST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

be  in  danger.  The  Ministers  maintained  a  de- 
meanour of  smiling  confidence  towards  all  ques- 
tions, and  it  was  declared  that  no  possible  attack 
could  be  made  without  warning  to  the  thousands 
who  might  be  in  danger.  Then,  one  night,  mysteri- 
ous convoys  went  to  and  fro,  and  desperate  efforts 
were  made  to  hide  their  movements. 

Then  the  last  scene  of  the  tragedy  came.  Those 
who  knew  most  of  the  real  situation  were  very 
chary  of  suggestions.  The  quick  movement  of 
events  was  fearfully  foreshadowed  in  the  grim  hap- 
penings of  that  first  day  of  war.  We  were  in  the 
city  most  of  the  day,  and  saw  the  excitement  and 
courage  in  spite  of  it.  Suddenly  flags  appeared  in 
all  squares,  on  the  roofs  of  houses,  on  the  walls. 
Great  crowds  gathered  in  the  streets,  everybody 
gesticulating,  and  it  seemed  as  though  every  one 
was  shouting,  "To  Berlin." 

What  a  riot  it  really  was.  Perfect  strangers 
meeting  and  embracing  each  other,  men  grasping 
each  other  by  the  hand  in  mutual  congratulation. 
All  the  public  buildings  were  besieged.  It  was  a 
tremulous,  inspiring  excitement,  which  conveyed  to 
you  the  spirit  of  the  English  people.  Above  the 
noise  and  shouts  of  the  crowds  one  heard  the  sharp, 
penetrating  command  of  trumpets  in  the  streets. 

—345— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

The  military  bands  of  the  different  regiments 
seemed  to  be  constantly  coming  and  going.  It  was 
evident  that  no  one  would  possibly  intervene  to 
reason  with  this  national  upheaval,  it  was  also  clear 
that  there  were  no  cowards.  When  the  soldiers  of 
different  garrisons  were  notified  to  be  ready,  they 
rushed  pell-mell  to  their  places,  fearing  more  to  re- 
linquish them  than  to  take  them.*  There  was  no  pre- 
tentiousness or  self-importance  among  the  generals 
and  officers  who  were  called  to  duty.  Every  one 
sought  only  to  become  a  servant  of  His  Majesty 
George  V  of  England,  to  protect  his  realm,  and  to 
achieve  a  glorious  victory. 

Colossal  sums  were  at  once  demanded  of  Parlia- 
ment by  Premier  Asquith,  which  were  voted,  and 
became  huge  loans.  No  one  seemed  to  think  of 
those  who  might  be  left  behind,  of  the  sorrowing. 
The  retinue  of  the  court  became  more  gorgeous 
than  ever,  and  music,  especially  military  bands,  was 
heard  everywhere.  There  were,  of  course,  the  usual 
ambitious  cymes  who  pacified  the  peevish  people, 
and  the  Palace  itself  was  constantly  surrounded  by 
a  curious  crowd.  Much  was  expected  of  that  great 
organiser,  Lord  Kitchener,  who  made  plans  to  regu- 
late every  item  of  expenditure  in  the  forthcoming 
—346— 


MY  LAST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

cataclysm.  So,  with  varied  feelings  England  waited 
for  the  hour  to  strike. 

I  was  impressed  with  a  fact  that  the  chief  sup- 
port of  those  who  deplored  the  national  war  spirit, 
was  the  familiar  encouragement  of  the  words,  " En- 
tente Cordiale."  Of  course,  Parliament  made  much 
of  this  quality,  and  hastened  the  progress  of  this 
alliance  amid  scenes  and  ceremonies  that  were  very 
impressive. 

Kitchener  was  really  the  chief  intellectual  power 
of  England's  war  plan.  In  doing  this  he  steered  a 
dangerous  course  over  quicksands  which  threatened 
his  personal  safety.  He  had  a  highly  strung  tem- 
perament, and  an  intellect  which  saw  much  trickery 
around  him,  and  which  he  was  alert  in  combating. 
The  work  which  he  accomplished  for  England,  I 
fear  was  out  of  focus  with  the  times.  His  opportu- 
nities to  regulate  the  forces  of  France  were  too 
short,  and  therefore  he  was  unable  to  make  the  pub- 
lic see  the  future  in  clear  equilibrium. 

In  London  society,  the  gossips  found  a  great 
field  for  their  favourite  occupation,  although  the 
war  spirit  had  burst  the  bubble  of  folly  and  volup- 
tuousness in  which  they  had  thrived.  There  were 
women  in  society  whom  it  was  foreseen  would  be  a 
baleful  force,  but  the  country  insisted  that  they 

—347— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

serve.  Many  of  them,  in  doing  this,  had  to  aban- 
don their  amours  with  great  men.  Of  course,  there 
were  great  quantities  of  patriotic  English  women, 
who  eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
their  mettle,  to  throw  down  the  gauntlet  in  de- 
fiance of  feminine  tradition,  to  put  on,  as  it  were, 
the  mailed  fist  and  to  do  their  bit.  Love,  of  course, 
had  to  take  a  back  seat.  I  mean,  of  course,  love  as 
a  pastime.  Knowing  a  good  deal  of  the  inner  com- 
plications of  English  society,  it  was  obvious  that 
love's  tyranny  was  vanishing.  There  could  be  no 
more  slavery  of  feeling.  The  women  shook  off  the 
yoke  of  idle  flirtation,  and  the  men  accepted  the 
new  order  of  things. 

Every  day  brought  new  changes,  but  the  bal- 
ance in  power  of  the  future  was  hidden  in  the  low, 
black  clouds  of  war.  Of  course,  royalty  did  not 
leave  town.  All  sorts  of  sensational  stories  were 
circulated,  and  promptly  contradicted,  and  all  the 
while  the  crowds  grew  more  dense  in  the  streets. 
Finally  the  Palace  was  completely  surrounded  by 
mounted  police.  Great  services  were  held  in  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  during  these  days  preceding  the 
war  in  London,  at  which  the  royal  family  attended. 
It  seemed  as  though  the  religious  element  of  Eng- 
—348— 


MY  LAST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

land  was  making  an  appeal  to  the  Divine  Power  to 
grant  peace  to  Europe. 

The  sight  of  the  Crack  Cavalry  Regiments  rid- 
ing through  the  streets,  which  was  once  an  incident 
of  gaiety,  made  us  all  feel  sad.  Crowds  of  men  and 
women  of  all  classes  followed  the  soldiers  about. 
The  chief  impression  to  me  of  all  this  entanglement 
of  feeling  was  that  the  powers  of  Lloyd  George 
were  manifest  everywhere.  With  all  the  strength 
of  his  oratory  and  his  eager  temperament,  he 
wanted  above  all  things  the  glory  of  England.  He 
demanded  that  the  English  Navy  demonstrate  the 
triumph  of  Great  Britain's  sea  power. 

Across  the  Channel,  the  chief  sentiment  of 
France  seemed  to  be  to  regain  the  dominion  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  including  the  greater  part  of 
the  Rhenish  country,  through  which  they  hoped  to 
enter  Germany.  This  was  the  plan  talked  of  and 
anticipated  successfully,  not  by  temporary  invasion, 
but  by  an  orderly  and  skillful  campaign. 

Actually,  however,  there  were  no  conditions  in 
London  itself,  which  expressed  any  fear  either  of 
food  shortage  or  enemy  attack.  The  ladies  still 
danced  in  magnificent  ballrooms — especially  the 
new  dances,  those  impetuous,  ardent,  swinging  fig- 
ures, and  then  to  supper  with  plenty  of  champagne. 

—349— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Neither  politics  nor  war  interfered  much  with  the 
Music  Halls,  or  the  Movies.  Some  performances 
rose  above  the  question  of  literary  merit,  but  other 
performances  were  condemned  as  morally  objec- 
tionable, because  they  contained  allusions  to  the 
war  conditions  which  the  public  did  not  appreciate. 

Of  course,  great  entertainments  were  planned 
for  charity,  in  which  society  women  were  pledged 
to  appear  in  extraordinary  exhibitions.  I  recall  a 
couple  of  singers,  Delicia  and  Morton,  who  were 
appearing  in  an  obscure  cafe  in  London,  were  re- 
tained by  a  celebrated  Duchess  to  teach  her  a  very 
spicy  and  suggestive  duet,  in  which  she  was  to  ap- 
pear at  a  great  charity  affair  for  the  wives  and  chil- 
dren of  the  maimed  and  wounded  defenders  of  the 
country.  I  can  give  no  idea  of  the  enormous 
amount  of  charity  that  was  set  in  motion,  and  the 
enormous  sums  that  were  raised  in  the  name  of 
charity. 

Regretfully  I  must  admit  that  there  were  a  good 
many  so-called  society  people  who  hailed  war  with 
Germany  with  intense  delight,  for  the  commercial 
rivalry  of  England  had  for  many  years  been  an  an- 
noyance to  them.  There  were  others  in  England, 
however,  who  at  this  period  in  the  evolution  of  war, 
insisted  that  they  were  meeting  a  valiant  foe,  that 
—350— 


MY  LAST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

the  task  of  conquering  Germany  would  be  a  hard 
and  severe  strain  for  the  country.  The  feeling 
against  the  enemy,  however,  was  obvious.  The 
ladies  were  more  positive  in  its  expression  than  the 
men. 

German  maids  were  dismissed.  I  knew  of  one 
lady  who  sent  away  her  German  maid  who  had  been 
with  her  over  twenty  years,  who  nursed  her  through 
a  difficult  illness, — in  twenty-four  hours'  notice. 

Life  in  London  became  a  perpetual  caldron  of 
boiling  hatred.  It  would  simmer  down,  only  to 
shoot  up  with  a  more  bubbling  hatred,  with  over- 
whelming heat. 

With  other  women  in  London,  I  made  thousands 
of  shirts  for  the  soldiers. 

The  women  of  England  became  a  powerful  al- 
lied force  for  conscription,  in  spite  of  bitter  tears 
they  wept  for  the  lovers  they  lost.  Still,  they  were 
resolved  to  tread  the  future  path  of  life  with  an  in- 
dependence of  will  that  surpassed  the  expectations. 
I  noticed  a  great  change  came  over  these  lovely 
girls,  when  they  had  to  learn  by  experience  many 
unknown  things.  They  were  vivacious,  proud,  en- 
terprising, potential  Amazons,  well  fitted  to  hold 
the  lance,  the  revolver,  the  gun.  They  really  showed 
remarkable  courage,  the  courage  of  men,  which  is 

—351— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

very  rarely  found  in  women.  They  became  utterly 
regardless  of  the  opinions  of  others.  Some  of  these 
women  who  had  been  leaders  in  the  spice  of  fashion, 
told  me  that  after  serious  reflection,  they  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  soul  should  not  be  suscep- 
tible to  love.  For  this  reason,  they  declared  they 
wanted  to  go  to  war.  They  were  brave  and  gen- 
erous, they  had  the  manner  and  the  inclinations  of 
men. 

Of  course  all  business  was  suspended,  the  streets 
were  full  of  excited  people,  the  shop-keepers  stood 
on  their  doorsteps.  The  parliamentary  orators 
talked  brilliantly  and  terribfy,  while  the  British  na- 
tion listened  patiently  and  enthusiastically.  Finally 
everything  settled  down  to  a  universal  spirit  of  pa- 
triotism, and  life  became  more  tolerable  in  London. 

Amateur  musical  entertainments  at  the  fashion- 
able houses  in  London  for  charitable  purposes,  con- 
stituted a  great  attraction. 

And  now,  how  fare  these  ladies,  these  society  but- 
terflies, these  arbiters  of  fashion,  these  social  lead- 
ers, what  are  their  thoughts  ?  Outwardly,  they  dem- 
onstrated a  furious  and  agitated  movement  to  be- 
come nurses,  sisters  of  charity,  motor-car  drivers, 
anything  and  everything  to  help  to  aspire  to  the 
new  feminine  diversion,  of  being  warriors.  In  a 
—352— 


MY  LAST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

measure,  they  have  all  become  heroines,  Spartans. 
The  spoiled  children  of  society  found  themselves 
mingling  promiscuously  with  shop-girls,  actresses, 
upper-servants.  Preferably  these  society  women 
chose  the  open-air  hospitals,  and  the  Tommies  have 
been  enjoying  the  sensation  of  being  nursed  by 
women  of  the  English  aristocracy. 

I  saw  Mrs.  E.  H.  start  from  London  for  the 
front  with  twelve  motor  ambulances,  driving  one 
herself.  With  her  was  Lady  de  Trafford  and  the 
Duchess  of  Westminster.  They  rushed  madly  to 
Boulogne  and  Calais  to  give  their  personal  aid,  and 
indeed  it  was  a  tussle  between  them  as  to  who  should 
arrive  first.  Of  course,  everything  was  done  at 
their  personal  expenditure.  Every  one  was  buying 
calico  and  lint.  Every  one  was  learning  how  to 
make  bandages  of  medicated  wool,  how  to  apply 
anaesthetics,  how  to  manipulate  first  aid.  This  was 
work  which  the  ambulance  corps  started  at  once. 
The  beautiful  houses  along  St.  James  Park,  oppo- 
site Carleton  House  Terrace,  were  turned  into  new 
convalescent  homes.  Even  the  balconies  were  con- 
verted into  open-air  wards.  When  I  went  into  a 
famous  shop  I  saw  the  ladies  of  the  court  purchas- 
ing cottons  and  haberdashery.     There  was  Lady 

—353— 


LOVE  STORIES  OF  COURT  BEAUTIES 

Eva  Dugdale,  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  conducting 
shopping  expeditions  for  the  wounded. 

I  confess  that  I  felt  desolate  and  wretched  to 
find  myself  excluded  from  the  land  of  my  adoption, 
although  it  has  brought  me  to  this  beautiful  coun- 
try, where  I  have  met  the  delightful  and  gracious 
Americans  and  have  become  a  welcome  stranger. 


354-- 


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